The Twenty-Eighth Year
by Chrmdpoet
Summary: Henry is drawn to a small town in Maine on the night of his 28th birthday only to discover that this town is the place he has been searching for, the place in which he must find his parents and reunite them to break the curse of the Dark Queen. A re-imagining of Season One, in which Henry is the Savior, Cora is the Evil Queen, and SwanQueen is the main canon pairing.
1. Chapter 1: A Wish

**Summary/AN: (Sorry but this has to be long) Hello everyone. I'm finally getting started on my prompt stories. This story was inspired by a truly incredible, in-depth prompt that I received from IAmTheUltimateGleek. I was asked to basically write a re-imagining of OUaT's first season in which Regina and Emma are the main canon pairing instead of Snowing, or rather in PLACE of Snowing (though Snowing will still exist in this story), Henry is the Savior (and the biological child of SwanQueen), and Cora/Rumple cast the Dark Curse. **

**In this first chapter, you will get a feel for what I mean. Also, the beginning of this first chapter is an almost exact replica of parts of the pilot episode of OUaT but with the appropriate character changes, but as we progress, the story will adjust accordingly and take on a life of its own. You will see a lot of great canon moments altered to fit SwanQueen throughout.**

**Each episode of Season One will be covered in two chapters each unless otherwise stated for whatever reason. So this first chapter will be the first half of the pilot.**

**Some elements will remain the same, such as Regina's and Emma's occupations. Only some facts about the characters will be altered; some greatly significant and some not so much. Snow and Charming are older, mid-to-late forties. And you will notice some extreme parallels between them and SwanQueen in this first chapter, but don't be put off by them. Emma and Regina will (mostly) maintain their canon personalities in Storybrooke, but I also have to make allowances for the fact that they have entirely different histories in this story so will not be the exact same people (especially not in the EF flashbacks). And some things will be better explained and become clearer as the story progresses.**

**I truly hope to do this prompt justice, because it was such a brilliant and beautiful idea. **

**Hopefully, your questions will be answered as the story unfolds. Oh, and Regina and Emma are right around the same age in this story.**

**All flashback scenes will be in italics. Okay, so here we go. I hope you all enjoy. XO-Chrmdpoet**

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING.**

**Chapter One: A Wish**

_Once Upon a Time_

_There was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know._

_Or think we know._

_One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen._

_Our World._

_This is how it happened…_

_Long, golden strands of hair whipped violently in the wind as fair hands snapped at the wrist, cracking the reins against a charging horse. Emerald eyes, wrought with determination, seared into the distance as hooves beat the dirt path with a righteous fury. Time was wearing thin._

_ The smell of salted moisture hung in the air, whipping against the rider's face to provide her frigid clarity as she rode past the rolling salt lakes of the Enchanted Forest toward the lush greenery ahead. She breathed in great, trembling gasps as she drew nearer and nearer, the cold seeping through her crimson cloak to bite at her flesh. She feared what she would find upon arriving._

_ She could see them now, the dwarves, huddled together in a mass. She could not see beyond their small, heavily clothed bodies and knitted hats, but she knew what waited just beyond her line of vision. Her love._

_ As her steed reached the forest clearing, she leapt from its back and made her way forward on foot, only to be cautioned by one of the dwarves. Sorrow bled through his gaze from behind small glasses as he sadly announced, "You're too late."_

_ Her heart hammered frantically against her chest as the small man moved aside, the dwarves following his lead. There, lying still as death in a glass coffin intricately adorned with woven branches, was her beloved._

_ "No," she muttered raggedly as the breath slammed from her lungs, but that small utterance grew into a roar as she rushed forward. "NO!"_

_ She stepped up to the side of the coffin and peered into it through tearful emerald eyes, absorbing the unmarred beauty of her love—smooth skin, red lips, long, dark hair and lashes. Beautiful._

_ Her tears broke through and spilled slowly down her cheeks as she commanded the dwarves. "Open it."_

_ "I'm sorry. She's gone," another said gruffly, fighting his own sorrow, but she would not listen._

_ "At least let me say goodbye," she croaked, and the dwarves obliged._

_ They carefully pulled the coffin's lid from its base, and beneath soft flakes of gentle snow, she leaned in and pressed her lips to her love's in what she believed to be a final kiss; a kiss of parting._

_ However, as soft skin met tenderly, a brilliant wave of energy burst outward from where their lips did meet. As she broke the kiss, a shocking gasp echoed throughout the wood, and those dark lashes began to flutter._

_ Chocolate eyes gazed into emerald and both women breathed a trembling sigh of relief. A hand came up to rest against a tear-soaked cheek._

_ "You…" the brunette whispered reverently. "You found me."_

_ The smallest chuckle slipped across the other woman's lips as she leaned into the touch and asked, "Did you ever doubt I would?"_

_ They laughed together as she answered, "Truthfully? The glass coffin gave me pause."_

_ "Well, you never have to worry. I will always find you."_

_ They looked deeply into one another's eyes, fingers stroking at cheeks and hair, at arms and hands. They were lost in one another, in a moment of reunion; a moment of love._

_ "Do you promise?" the brunette whispered, and a brilliant smile lit the blonde's face._

* * *

_"I do," she breathed through a radiant smile as the entirety of her kingdom surrounded her, sharing the blessing that was this precious day. Her blonde locks fell in gentle tendrils, woven with delicate white lace, and her body was clad in a flowing white gown with a billowing train. She was a picture of grace despite her typical liking to leather trousers and hanging tunics, weapons holsters, cloaks, and knee-high leather boots._

_ The priest turned happily and asked, "And do you, Regina Mills, promise to take this woman to be your wife, and love her for all eternity?"_

_ Regina grinned shyly as she shook her head with astonishment, looked deeply into those emerald eyes she had once loathed seeing, and sighed as she promised, "I do." She, too, was breathtaking in her beauty, clad in a similar white gown fitted to her stunning figure. _

_ "I now pronounce you married," the priest proclaimed, and the entirety of the grand hall erupted in a roaring cheer._

_ Both women, grinning ear-to-ear with their joy, leaned together, but just as their lips were to touch, gasps of shock and fear rippled through the hall as the doors burst violently open._

_ Standing in the open archway was a woman the entire land had come to fear. She was clad entirely in black, the material clinging to her body in ways far too revealing for a woman of her former stature and a woman of her age; then again, she hardly looked her age thanks to the power she had accumulated over the years._

_ "Sorry I'm late," she taunted, and then she moved._

_ She quickly made her way forward, her body almost gliding with every step as she moved faster than humanly possible, the action fueled by her abilities. Two guards rushed forward, but she simply tossed out her hands and sent them spiraling away from her. _

_ "It's the Queen. Run!" a dwarf shouted, but hardly any could bring themselves to move._

_ Regina snarled angrily as she summoned a fireball in her hand and held it at the ready. "She's not a queen anymore!" she announced. "She's nothing more than an evil witch." _

_Two of the guests in attendance stepped defensively forward on either side of the newlyweds-Emma's parents, the legendary true love pair themselves, Snow White and Prince Charming._

_ "No, don't stoop to her level. There's no need," Emma cautioned, reaching forward to place a comforting hand atop Regina's shoulder. The blonde then directed her speech at the former queen as she said, "You're wasting your time. You've already lost, and I won't let you ruin this wedding."_

_ The woman in black simply chuckled. "I haven't come here to ruin anything. On the contrary, dear, I've come to give you a gift."_

_ "We want nothing from you," Regina argued, dousing the flame in her hand as her voice became a rumbling growl, "Mother."_

_ "But you shall have it! My gift to you is this happy, happy day," she countered, her voice dripping with her disgust, "but tomorrow my real work begins. You've made your vows. Now, I make mine. Soon, everything you love, everything all of you love, will be taken from you forever, and out of your suffering will rise my victory." She curled her lip as she made a solemn vow. "I shall destroy your happiness if it is the last thing I do."_

_ And with those final words, she whipped around, her black cloak billowing out from her body as she moved to make her exit. She managed only a few steps, though, before a snarling scream of "HEY!" echoed through the hall._

_ The Dark Queen turned at the word to see her daughter's new wife and rightful heir to the throne, the new Queen Emma White, wrench a sword from her father's waist and throw it forward with startling and deadly precision._

_ All in the hall waited on bated breath as the sword hurtled toward the Dark Queen, but just as it would have pierced her flesh, the woman disappeared in a swirling cloud of black and purple smoke. _

* * *

Henry swiped a rough hand down his face, fingers sifting through his freshly groomed goatee as he waited for the elevator to reach the right floor; the hotel restaurant. He stared at himself in the reflective walls of the elevator as he straightened his tie and swiped the lint from his perfectly tailored and pressed suit. It was the only suit he owned and it had served him well for several years.

Thankfully, he hadn't had a growth spurt since he was seventeen.

When the elevator dinged and the doors opened, Henry stepped confidently from the small metal cubical and made his way through the restaurant to where his date was waiting. He inwardly rolled his eyes as he saw the man nervously jump to his feet, but the guy at least plastered on a smile as he stepped forward, held out his hand, and asked, "Henry?"

"Brian," Henry said with a nod and a grin, though all he could think was, _the fucking things I do for my job…seriously. _It was a damn good thing that he was well practiced in the art of being one charming bastard, because otherwise his complete lack of patience with moronic people would cost him his success. And he was quite successful at what he did.

Brian sighed happily as he looked him up and down. "You look relieved," Henry laughed as he dropped into the seat across from him.

"Well, it is the internet," Brian chuckled. "Pictures can be—"

"Fake, updated, stolen from a GQ magazine," Henry finished for him, and they laughed together.

When the laughter died down, Brian leaned across the table and said, "So, tell me something about yourself, Henry," as if he was genuinely interested in learning about Henry's life and not just hoping for a good fuck later; Henry knew better.

Still, he played along.

"Uh, well, today's my birthday."

"And you're spending it with me?" Brian asked, surprised. "What about your friends?"

"Eh, kind of a loner."

"You don't like your family?"

"No family to like."

"Oh, come on. Everyone has family."

"Technically yeah, but not everyone knows who they are. Ready to run yet?" It was an almost, kind-of, sort-of truth. Henry had a family, and he did, in fact, know who they were, but he hadn't seen them in many, many years. So many, in fact, that it was hard to even consider them family any longer.

"Oh, not a chance," Brian protested. "You, Henry, are by far the sexiest friendless orphan that I have ever met."

"Ha, okay," Henry laughed. "Your turn. Oh wait, no. Let me guess. You are handsome, charming…"

"Go on…"

"The kind of guy who, and stop me if I get this wrong," Henry leveled his gaze at the man, "embezzled from your employer, got arrested, and skipped town before they were able to throw your ass in jail."

Brian laughed uncomfortably as he muttered, "What?"

"Mm, yeah," Henry taunted, "and the worse part about all of this is your wife. Your wife bailed you out of jail, and how do you repay that loyalty? You're on a date, with a _man_."

"Who are you?" Brian angrily hissed.

"The guy who put up the rest of the money."

"You're a bail bondsman."

"Mm, yup."

Brian drummed his fingers against the table before jumping up, throwing the table at Henry, and sprinting from the restaurant.

Henry just sighed as he slowly stood from the table and loosened his tie. "Why do they always run?"

When Henry exited the hotel, he calmly stepped out into the busy street and weaved through traffic, headed straight for Brian's car. He knew exactly where to find it because he had followed the man to the restaurant and had placed a boot on his tire so that he couldn't drive away.

_Score one for me, _Henry thought, mentally patting himself on the back.

As he wrenched open the driver side door, Brian pleaded with him. "Please, man, you don't have to do this. Look, I can pay you. I've got money."

"No you don't," Henry scoffed, "and even if you did, I'd just give it to your wife to take care of your family."

"The hell you know about family? Huh?" Brian snarled, and Henry bristled at the low blow.

He reached forward before he could stop himself and bashed Brian's head into the steering wheel, rendering the man unconscious.

"Nothing," he whispered, "at least, not anymore."

* * *

Henry sighed deeply as he made his way into his apartment with a small white bag, kicking off his dress shoes as soon as he stepped through the door. He stepped over to his kitchen, pulled a plastic cup from the cabinet, and poured himself a tiny glass of wine. He planned on driving later that night, so he made sure to only indulge a little. He then sat down at the counter and opened the bag.

From it, he pulled a small cupcake with white frosting. He stuck a single candle in the top of it and lit the wick. He sat in front of the flickering candle for several long moments, head resting atop his arms as he stared into the flame.

"Another banner year," he whispered to himself before closing his eyes, his chest tight with his sorrow, and making a silent wish as he blew out the candle.

_I wish I could find my family._

He had been searching for years, looking for signs or hints, but still he had found nothing. This year, though, would be different. He was sure of it.

He knew this because of the prophecy.

His 28th birthday.

This year, he would find his family. Somehow. Some way.

He would find them.

* * *

_Regina stood in the open archway of the balcony window of the nursery, her lips downturned in a frown as her thoughts ran rapidly away with her. She stroked a gentle hand over her swollen belly and sighed into the chilled air._

_ "What's wrong?" the soft voice of her wife drifted to her, and she turned to see Emma approaching her with a sad smile._

_ "Nothing," Regina lied, shaking her head._

_ Emma did not believe her for a second. "You're thinking about what your mother said again, aren't you?"_

_ Regina simply nodded, and Emma let out a long, frustrated sigh. "Regina, please, I can't keep having this conversation. You have to let it go. We're about to have a baby."_

_ "I haven't had a restful night since our wedding," Regina told her wife as she stepped past her and went to stand over the gorgeous crib they had prepared for their unborn child._

_ "That's what she wants," Emma explained, "to get inside your head, but they're only words. She can't hurt us."_

_ "She poisoned an apple because she thought I was prettier than her. You have no idea of what she's capable."_

_Emma simply shook her head and reached for her wife's hands. "What can I do to ease your mind?"_

"_Let me talk to him."_

"_Him?" Emma reiterated disbelievingly. "You don't mean…"_

"_I do."_

"_No, no, no," Emma denied. "It's too dangerous."_

"_He sees the future," Regina argued, now pleading._

"_There's a reason why he's locked up."_

"_Can you promise me that our child will be safe? Can you guarantee it?" Tears built in Regina's eyes as she squeezed at her wife's hands, begging her to understand. "Because he can."_

_Emma was a mess internally. Her mind and her heart warred with one another. She did not know how to proceed, but the look in her wife's eyes was so pleading, so desperate, that she could not bring herself to deny this request. _

"_Alright," she reluctantly relented, "for our child."_

* * *

Henry rubbed at his eyes as he stared at the long, dark road ahead. He'd been driving for hours. It was something he did nearly every night, a ritual of sorts. He'd been doing it for a couple of years now, ever since he'd saved up enough money to feel comfortable guzzling up gas at an alarming rate. It wasn't that he was rich or even well-off, but he'd built himself a nice little nest egg from his great success as a bail bondsman and bounty hunter over the years.

He wasn't one for material possessions, and he didn't have much to call his own. All of his spare time, at least within the last few years, was spent on this one single purpose; this mission.

The hunt for his family.

The only problem was that he had next to nothing to go on. The best he had was his parents' names, but that did him little good when they were trapped somewhere he knew he would never find on any map.

So, he looked for signs.

Most people would mock a person who believed so strongly in subtle signs and signals, as if from some deity, but Henry could hardly bring himself to care. He knew that things existed beyond what most people were even aware.

He believed in the impossible. He believed in magic.

He had seen it.

He _was _it.

* * *

_Emma and Regina, heavily cloaked and hands trembling, followed a guard through the dungeons by torchlight as they listened to his words of caution._

_ "Stay out of the light, and whatever you do, do not let him know your name. If he knows your name, he will have power over you."_

_ The two queens nodded as they followed him to a dark cell, a magical cell, where dwelled a monster of a man behind jagged iron bars._

_ "Rumplestiltskin," the guard called but received no answer. "Rumplestiltskin! I have a question for you."_

_ "No you don't," a high-pitched hissing voice answered, a voice that sent chills spiraling down the queens' spines. "They do." The monstrous man stepped forward and wrapped his hands around the bars, the torchlight finally setting his face aglow._

_ Regina bristled as she took in the sight of his scaly, reptilian skin and enlarged golden pupils. He was more of a beast than a man. The Dark One._

_ "The White Queens," Rumplestiltskin said delightedly, giggling. "You insult me. Step into the light and take off those ridiculous robes."_

_ They did as he wished, and he sighed happily. "Ah, that's much better," he hissed._

_ "We've come to ask you ab—" Emma began but was quickly cut off by the man's furious roar._

_ "YES! YES! I know why you're here!" he yelled. "You want to know about the queen's threat."_

_ "Tell us what you know!" Regina demanded._

_ "Oh," Rumplestiltskin giggled. "Tense, aren't we? Fear not, for I can ease your minds!" He waggled his fingers as he sing-songed the last bit, and the queens hardly knew what to make of him. "But!" he continued. "It's gonna cost you something in return."_

_ "No, this is a waste of time," Emma proclaimed, but Regina quickly stepped closer to the bars. She was desperate._

_ "What do you want?" she asked him._

_ "Oh, hmm, the name of your unborn child," Rumplestiltskin told her with a glint in his eye._

_ "Absolutely not," Emma scoffed, but again, Regina had other plans._

_ "Deal," she agreed before Emma could even speak another word. "What do you know?"_

_ The Dark One smiled and sighed victoriously, and with a tone that dripped with nothing but pleasure and glee, he revealed what he knew. "The queen is creating a powerful curse, and it's coming. Soon you'll all be in a prison just like me, only worse. Your prison, all of our prisons, will be time. Time will stop, and we will be trapped some place horrible where everything we hold dear, everything we love, will be ripped from us while we suffer for all eternity. While the queen celebrates, victorious at last! No more happy endings."_

_Regina let out a stuttering breath as she took another step forward, close enough that the man could reach out and touch her if he tried. "What can we do?" she asked, desperate to save her family from her mother's wrath._

"_We can't do anything," Rumplestiltskin told her simply._

"_Who can?"_

_An almost inhuman smile stretched his lips revealing dirtied, golden teeth. "Ah," he whispered as he stretched a hand through the bars and toward Regina's swollen stomach. "That little thing growing inside your belly."_

_Before his hand could touch, though, it was smacked away. Emma pointed forward her sword and held the man's gaze with promise as she said, "Next time, I cut it off."_

_Rumplestiltskin glared at her as he gravely told them, "The infant is our only hope. Get the child to safety. Get the child to safety and on its twenty-eighth birthday, the child will return. The child will find you." His eyes bugged dramatically as he giggled with mad glee and shouted, "And the final battle will begin!"_

"_How long do we have?" Regina asked, her voice hardly more than a whisper as fear radiated through her chest. "How long do we have until the curse is cast?"_

"_The curse will take some time for the queen to create," the Dark One explained, his golden eyes fixated on Regina's impregnated belly. "But she _will_ be successful, no matter the attempts to foil her plans. Darkness will cloud the lands in seven years' time, and then we will all know the queen's wrath. There will be no escaping it."_

_Rumplestiltskin erupted into a fit of maniacal laughter once more._

_Emma, startled by the man's obvious craze, urged her wife to leave and they quickly began to make their way from the dungeon. As they stepped away from the man's cell, though, he called out to them, enraged._

"_HEY!" he shouted, furious. "WE MADE A DEAL! I WANT HIS NAME! WE HAVE A DEAL, AND I NEED HIS NAME!"_

"_You see?" Emma said to her wife. "He doesn't even know what he's talking about. It's a girl." She turned to leave again, but Regina was frozen in place as Rumplestiltskin softened his voice and called out to the brunette queen._

"_Missy," he cooed, "missy, you know I'm right. Tell me, what's his name?"_

_Regina took a deep breath as her heart hammered in her chest. She locked eyes with the Dark One, the words spilling across her tongue. "Henry. His name is Henry."_

"_Henry," the man whispered triumphantly as the two queens escaped the dungeon and left him there in the dark._

* * *

Henry had been driving for hours and yet he was still shocked when his headlights spilled across the sign that read:

_Welcome to Maine_

_The Way Life Should Be_

"Maine?" Henry muttered to himself. "Seriously?"

That was at least a four-hour drive. Damn.

He thought to turn back, but there was an itch in his chest, a niggling in his brain. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was onto something. He couldn't shake the feeling that for the first time in years, he was finally on the right track.

His mind flashed back to the wish he'd made earlier that evening in his lonely apartment.

"Surely not," he whispered to himself, but the feeling wouldn't go away. It ate away at him until he gave in and decided to keep driving, hoping that something, _anything _would happen.

After another couple of hours, though, Henry was starting to think he'd merely convinced himself that he'd ended up in Maine by fate simply because that's what he'd been hoping for. But with zero signs and no reason to keep going, Henry decided to just go ahead and stop in the next town for the night. He was dangerously low on gas and could hardly keep his eyes open any longer anyway.

He could only hope the next town was fairly close, though the road he was currently on didn't seem too promising. It was dark and surrounded by heavily wooded forest on both sides. There wasn't a single other car in sight and nothing but trees and open road in any direction.

"Well shit," he sighed before cranking up the radio to help him stay awake.

But then, seemingly out of nowhere, a sign crept into view, growing nearer and nearer as he drove. How had he missed that? Only moments earlier, he hadn't seen anything in the distance, but there it was. The sign was plain as day and in the whitewash flood from his headlights, it read: _Welcome to Storybrooke_.

* * *

_Emma's fist slammed into the hard surface of the round table as she strongly shouted, "I say we should fight!"_

_ "Fighting is a bad idea," a small voice croaked huskily. Charming looked through the large magnifying glass to the cricket that stood beneath it. Jiminy adjusted his monocle and explained, "Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes anything."_

_ "And how many wars has a clear conscience won?" Emma challenged him. "We need to take the queen out before she inflicts her curse."_

_ "Can we even trust Rumplestiltskin?" the dwarf, Doc, asked._

_ "He promised seven years, right?" Granny Lucas asked, her granddaughter Red standing just behind her with a hand planted firmly atop her shoulder. "We must go about this delicately and with a prepared course of action. We have years to get this right. Let's not spoil it by being too hasty."_

_ "I'll send my men into the forest," Emma told them all with determination. "The animals are a-buzz with the queen's plan. The more we learn now, the better we can prepare. This is going to happen unless we do something."_

_ "There's no point," Regina argued, sorrow painting her voice. "The future is written."_

"_No. I refuse to believe that," Emma told her. "Good can't just lose."_

"_Maybe it can."_

"_No, no, not as long as we have each other." Emma dropped to a knee beside her wife, slipping her hands into Regina's. She looked deep into those chocolate eyes she loved so dearly. "If you believe him about the curse, then you must believe him about our child. He _will_ be the Savior."_

"_The Savior," Regina whispered softly._

_Emma smiled through her tears as she nodded to her wife. "Yes, my love."_

"_Seven years." Regina's voice cracked with her sorrow._

"_Seven years," Emma reiterated firmly. "We will find a way, Regina. I promise you we will find a way."_


	2. Chapter 2: Our Best Chance

**A/N: Thank you everyone for the wonderful response to the first chapters. I greatly appreciate all of your supportive reviews. I hope you all enjoy this LONG chapter. XO-Chrmdpoet**

**Chapter Two: Our Best Chance**

The old yellow Volkswagen puttered into the quaint little town of Storybrooke, Maine, slowing to a creep as Henry peered through his windows and windshield at the various houses and small businesses he passed as he drove. The place seemed like a typical small town, the kind where everyone most likely knew everything about each other; the kind of town that Henry couldn't stand. He'd lived in a few towns like that while bouncing from foster family to foster family, and he'd hated every minute of it.

People were always nosing in his business or asking his foster parents about him even though knowing or not knowing had no bearing on their actual lives. It drove him mad. Why couldn't people just keep to themselves?

That was one thing that he'd come to really love about living in the city. There was a level of anonymity in the city that allowed him a lot of comfort. No one gave a flying fuck who he was or what he did unless of course it was a criminal who had skipped out on bail.

He could be the nobody that he commonly felt he was. He could be in the shadows. He could be a secret. He didn't have to worry about anyone asking too many questions, questions that he didn't have the answers to; at least, not answers that he could actually give—questions about his family, about his heritage, about his past, about his future, about his childhood.

He didn't want to risk anyone getting close to him. Not only because his life had been nothing but a lot of heartache, but also because he didn't know where he'd be in a year or even a month. Henry actually had a destiny he had to worry about, and the worst part was that he didn't have a goddamned clue what that destiny actually meant for his life.

He drove around in endless circles for a while through several streets of small houses until he noticed that there was suddenly a pair of headlights behind him. He was being followed.

Henry squinted a bit to see the outline of the car behind him and noticed the rectangular shape atop the car. It was a cop.

"Great," he sighed to himself and not seconds later, the neon-bright flash of blue and red spilled into the night behind him, nearly blinding him as he stared in the rearview mirror. He silently cursed his luck as he pulled smoothly over to the curb in front of what looked to be a small apartment building and reached for his wallet to get his license.

Henry rolled down his window just as a scruffy guy in a rather outdated uniform stepped up to the side of the car. He glanced at the badge on the man's shirt and saw that the guy was a deputy; Deputy Mills, it read.

Something clicked in the back of Henry's mind upon reading that name, but when no answers floated forward, he simply shook his head and dismissed it.

"Uh, evening, Deputy," Henry said as politely as possible. "There a problem?"

"No, no problem," the Deputy answered, and Henry took note of the man's accent. What was that? Scottish? Irish? Something like that. He couldn't help but wonder how the guy had ended up in such a small town in Maine of all places. He had always had much too curious of a mind. "It's a small town, so an unfamiliar vehicle creeping along the streets stands out. I got a few calls from some of the residents in this part of town worried about a strange car. Older folks. I'm sure you understand."

"Eh, yeah, I guess," Henry told him. "Look, I didn't mean to bother anyone or alarm anyone. I've just been driving a long time, stumbled upon this place, and was looking for a place to crash."

"Oh?" Deputy Mills asked as he propped a hand on his hip and looked Henry over. "What brings you out this way? Where are you driving from?"

"Is that really relevant?" Henry asked, unwilling to let a small-town cop shake him for information that wasn't required. He hated the way that cops always acted like they were entitled to your life's story just so that they could make commonly incorrect assumptions about you. "Look, if I haven't broken any laws, then I'd appreciate it if you could just tell me where the nearest motel is, or if there isn't one, could you point me in the direction of a gas station so I can refuel and be on my way?"

"Sure, sorry about that," the Deputy apologized. "I didn't mean to pry. Listen, why don't you stop by my place for a drink?" the Deputy asked. "It's only a couple blocks over."

"Uh, look man, I'm sure you're really nice, but I'm not interested."

Deputy Mills chuckled as he stroked a hand over his scraggly beard. "I just meant that you could stop by my place for a free drink, take a load off, and then I can point you in the direction of the Bed and Breakfast. We don't get a lot of strangers around town, so it's sort of like having a connection to the outside world so to speak."

He laughed again, but Henry just sat there staring at him, utterly confused. _Seriously? _He thought. _What is it with small-town people and wanting to be instant friends with everyone they meet? I could be a damn serial killer for all he knows. _

"Well, I guess so," Henry relented, rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly, "but only one drink, because I'm seriously wiped out and I'll need to get back on the road first thing in the morning."

"Great!" Deputy Mills exclaimed. "I'm Graham by the way, Graham Mills." He held out a hand and Henry took it firmly. They shook once.

"Henry."

"Henry," Graham repeated with a nod. "No last name?"

"White. Henry White."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Henry White," Graham said with a smile before making his way back to his police car, cutting the flashing lights, and pulling out in front of the yellow Beetle. Henry let out a long, annoyed sigh, but still, he followed the guy.

When the police car pulled into the drive of a massive white house that looked more like a mini mansion, Henry let out a long, low whistle. He parked behind the Deputy and climbed out of the Bug. "The hell kind of Deputy's salary gets you a house like this?" he asked as he approached the scruffy man who was just climbing out of his own vehicle.

"Definitely not mine," the Deputy answered with a laugh. "It's my wife. She's uh…well, she's the Mayor."

"Well shit," Henry said with another low whistle as they made their way up the short path to the front door. "Way to pick 'em. How long have you two been together?"

The Deputy let out a long sigh as he scrunched his eyebrows for a moment. "As long as I can remember."

Henry chuckled as he nodded and said, "That long, huh? Well, you don't seem too old so I can't imagine it's been more than a decade or so."

Just as they were about to reach the front door, it jerked open to reveal a striking brunette woman, her short chocolate locks swishing as she moved to step onto the porch. Her gray dress fit her body perfectly and though her deep, brown eyes seemed warm enough, they narrowed significantly as she looked over the strange man standing on her porch.

"Ah, there she is," Graham said with a smile. "Henry White, this is my wife, the Madam Mayor herself, Regina Mills."

But Henry didn't say a word. He was frozen in place, unable to speak, unable to move, and seemingly unable to even breathe. His eyes devoured the sight before him and tears instantly began sting atop his eyelids. His chest clenched so tightly that it caused him pain and a burning sensation flooded his throat.

Standing before him was a woman he hadn't seen in twenty-one years.

His mother.

* * *

_"I don't want to do this, Emma," Regina whispered to her wife as they leaned against the wall of their young son's room. His lanky little body was curled up in a ball on his bed in the center of the grand room that had once been a nursery. As he had firmly informed his mothers, though, he was a big boy and big boys needed big-boy rooms, not baby cribs and mobiles._

_ Emma sighed as she reached down and threaded her fingers through Regina's. "I don't think we have a choice."_

_ "But we do, my love," the brunette protested quietly. "We _do _have a choice."_

_ "To what? Be cursed together, as a family, for all eternity? To let our people be cursed alongside us when we know there is a way to save us all?"_

_ "It's twenty-one years, Emma. We will be frozen in time and without him for twenty-one years."_

_ Emma looked at her son then, the words sinking heavily in, and her heart both ached and swelled at the sight of him. He was the most beautiful little boy. His chocolate eyes, so like Regina's were full of life and warmth, and he was so smart. He read like a maniac at only seven years old, eager to absorb as much knowledge as he could, and thanks to Regina's constant instruction, all their son had to do was open his mouth and begin speaking for any within earshot to know of his potential. He spoke like a tiny adult, all perfect grammar and pronunciation. It was undeniably cute._

_ Emma simply adored him with every fiber of her being, but what true choice did she have? What choice did any of them have? _

_ Would it be more of a curse to be without him for two decades, or to force him to stay this age forever? He could never grow older. He could never develop into a man. He could never take his rightful place on the throne. He could never find love…a love like Emma had with Regina. He would simply be a child, a wonderful child of course, but a child nonetheless. There would be nothing more for him._

_ She was so conflicted she could hardly breathe. In seven years, they had managed nothing. They had accomplished nothing. The Dark Queen had finally won. It was just as the prophecy had predicted. No matter their attempts to foil her, she had succeeded._

_ "What is twenty-one years when you have true love?" Emma choked out. "I may not be as sappy as my parents, Regina, and we may often tease one another with their overly dramatic lines, but I do believe in true love, eternal love. I believe it endures. I believe family does find always one another."_

_ "I believe this as well, but Emma, this is our son, and neither of us can go with him. The wardrobe will carry only one."_

_ The Blue Fairy had finally presented them with the only viable option just days prior, a magical tree that Geppetto fashioned into a wardrobe. The wardrobe, which now sat in the corner of Henry's room, could magically transport someone to safety before the curse swept them all away. However, it would carry only one._

_ "He is a strong boy." Emma was grasping at straws now, for her heart, like Regina's, refused to truly let go of their son._

_ "He's SEVEN and made to suffer for things he doesn't yet even understand. How is that fair?"_

_ "It's not, Regina. It's not fair. None of this is fair, but what if it really is our best chance?_

_ "I don't care," Regina told her, shaking her head in clear opposition. "I can't do this to Henry. I won't. I won't lose him."_

_ Neither of them noticed the little boy whose eyes were now wide open and whose ears had absorbed every word._

* * *

"Are you alright?"

Henry snapped out of his tearful trance at the sound of his mother's smooth and comforting voice. He locked eyes with hers only to see that no recognition danced there. She didn't know him. He knew that she wouldn't, yet still, it was a painful realization to finally have to face.

"Uh, yeah, yes," Henry quickly stammered out as he reached forward to take her hand. When their hands touched, he saw something. It was just a moment, just a flicker; something in her eyes, in a hitching of her breath. But then it was gone. "I'm sorry about that. Yes, I'm Henry. It's nice to meet you."

Regina smiled softly at him. "Henry," she hummed beautifully. "What a lovely name. It was my father's as well."

"I kno—" _SHIT! "_I mean, uh, I know it's a great name, right? A lot of people think it's too old-fashioned, but I don't think so. I mean, I guess it suits me pretty well. I've never had anyone tell me that I didn't look like a Henry or anything like that, so I guess it works for me…and I'm rambling. Sorry."

"No worries, mate," Graham said with a laugh as he clapped Henry on the back. "I had the same reaction the first time I saw her."

Henry shuddered on the inside. _Ugh, dude, that's my mom. _Still, he just laughed and played along. It was then that the realization sunk in—_Holy Shit! She's married! TO THIS RANDOM GUY!_

Anger boiled in Henry's gut as he finally fully realized what had happened. The curse had not only separated his mothers, but it had forced them to betray their love. It made him sick to his stomach, and he couldn't help but wonder if his other mother was married as well. Regardless, he was positively seething.

Just then, another woman that Henry recognized appeared behind his mother; however, this was a woman he had only ever seen in old portraits in his mothers' palace. It was a woman he had only ever heard of in haunting tales meant to caution or frighten.

His grandmother—the Evil Queen.

Cora loomed in the doorway just behind her daughter, her brown hair pulled into a tight bun at the back of her neck. Her cold eyes were calculating as she stepped to Regina's side beneath the porch light, and they instantly landed on Henry.

A vicious shiver shot down Henry's spine as the woman's eyes locked onto him. He had half the mind to imagine the woman might thrust her hand forward and into his chest any moment, but he knew well that this world contained no magic. So, in that regard, he was safe. He could easily admit to himself, though, that in the presence of such a woman, he felt anything but.

"What are you two doing out here at such an hour?" Cora asked with a haunting sweetness to her voice, her eyes darting between Regina and Graham as if she had yet to see Henry at all. Henry knew better. "Oh. Well, well, who do we have here?"

Henry watched his mother closely and had to force himself not to laugh as he saw Regina roll her eyes at her mother's inquiry. She cleared her throat and said, "Mother, this is Henry. Henry, this is my mother."

Cora's eyes narrowed and Henry saw the flash of alarm that shot through her eyes at the mention of his name. After a moment of silence, though, she seemed to merely shake away her concern and stretched forward her hand.

"Cora Mills." Her eyes locked hard on his again. "Lovely to make your acquaintance, Henry."

"Yeah, likewise." Henry pulled his hand from Cora's as quickly as he could. "Sorry to bother you."

"Oh, it's no bother at all," Regina said quickly, her own eyes tracking Henry up and down as if she recognized him but simply couldn't make the connection of how she knew him. It only furthered Henry's inner turmoil.

"Henry here was just passing through town and I thought he might like to stop by for a drink," Graham explained, seemingly avoiding Cora's eyes.

"I see," Cora hissed softly. "Well, Henry, dear, how would you like a glass of the best apple cider you ever tasted?"

Henry chuckled nervously as he asked, "Got anything stronger."

Regina rolled her eyes again as Cora crooked a finger at the young man and urged him to follow her inside. They all landed in the study together, Cora and Regina on a small couch opposite Henry and Graham. Henry noted that it had been quite some time since he had felt this awkward. As much as he wanted to just jump back in his car, though, and flee back to Boston, he couldn't. He'd finally done it.

He'd finally found his family; well, a part of his family, and as terrified as he was about what that truly meant, he couldn't turn away. He had missed his mothers for so long that he couldn't bear the thought of being without them again if he truly had a shot at having them.

And Regina…god, she looked exactly the same as when he had last seen her. Strong, poised, beautiful—the more he looked at her, the more his heart swelled in his chest. This was the woman who had given birth to him, the woman who had been willing to live a cursed life for all eternity just because she thought it would keep him with her.

His love for his mother came rushing back like a tidal wave—heavy and hard, and he had to choke back the tears building once more. It was then that he realized how much he had been staring at her and quickly made to correct that error. He tried to prevent it, but he felt the heat rise in his cheeks with the realization and shot an apologetic smile to his mother. He barely caught the shy smile she offered in return, but what he did see of it made him slightly uneasy.

Henry could only hope that whether his mother recognized him or not, she would have some deep, strange maternal feeling toward him; because, if she didn't, then he was just some single (and attractive, if he did say so himself) guy. Shit.

This might be a little harder than he imagined. And well…so incredibly awkward.

"So, Henry," Cora began smoothly as they each sipped at their tumblers of apple cider, and damn if it didn't have one hell of a kick, "what is that you do? You _do _work, don't you?"

"Oh yeah, I do a little of this and that," Henry muttered as he sipped at his drink.

"I see, and what brings you to Storybrooke?"

"Just traveling. Needed a place to stop for the night."

Cora's eyes narrowed at Henry. "And do you plan to stay a while?"

"Oh no ma'am. I've got to head back to Boston soon."

"Of course!" Cora exclaimed and then made the entire situation even more awkward as she immediately shot up from her seat and walked over to the study door. She held it open for Henry and stared at him as if to say, "Well get the hell out then."

Henry choked a bit on his cider before setting the tumbler down. "Uh, alright." He turned to the Deputy first and reached out his hand. As they shook again, he said, "It was nice meeting you, Graham. Thanks for the drink and the, uh, hospitality."

Graham smiled at him, though it was really more like a grimace as both he and Regina seemed incredibly embarrassed by Cora's actions. Then, Henry turned to Regina just as she was standing up. Their gazes locked as their hands met again, and there was that flash in Regina's eyes again that made Henry wonder if somewhere deep inside, she did still know him.

"It was lovely to meet you, Regina," Henry said softly and unconsciously swiped his thumb in a tender circle across the back of her hand.

"And you," she told him, the words hardly more than a whisper. They stared at one another a moment longer before Cora cleared her throat, and Henry jumped back to reality.

"Yeah, well, goodnight then," and he shot out of the door and out of the mansion as quickly as possible, desperate to get some fresh air before he gagged on all of that awkward tension.

Henry jumped into the Bug and shot off from the curb. It was then that he remembered he didn't know where the Bed and Breakfast was. He punched his steering wheel as he finally let the rapid swirl of emotions he'd been doing his best to contain burst forward. Tears ripped down his cheeks as he yelled into the quiet interior of his car. Before he even realized what he was doing or where he was going, he glanced up and saw the _Leaving Storybrooke _sign looming in the near distance.

What the hell was he doing? He couldn't just run from this. He had a responsibility, a destiny to fulfill.

Before he could contemplate any further, though, a large white wolf darted across the road seemingly out of nowhere. "SHIT!" Henry shouted as he yanked on the steering wheel to avoid the thing.

His tires squealed as the car spun out of control, and within seconds, slammed into the back of the town sign. Henry's head ricocheted off the driver-side window just before it shattered, and he cried out as pain shot through his skull.

Everything hurt, and then everything went black.

* * *

Henry's dark lashes fluttered slowly as a low whistling crept into his ears and pulled him from sleep. His eyes opened slowly and another face he recognized came rapidly into focus.

"What are you lookin' at, brother?" the guy across from him growled out.

Henry wanted to laugh, but at the same time, he felt that same crushing sadness from before. This was a man he knew well, a dwarf who had been a beloved friend of his grandmother's. Grumpy.

"Nothing, sorry." He glanced around and couldn't help but roll his eyes as he realized that he was in a damn jail cell.

A few moments later, Deputy Mills strode into the room with two small Styrofoam cups of coffee cradled in his hands. He sat one on a desk and carried the other with him as he stepped over to Grumpy's cell.

"Alright, Leroy," he said, and Henry snorted a bit. _Leroy? Seriously? _Then again, he supposed it _was _an awful lot better than Grumpy. "I'm going to let you out of here, but only if you promise to clean up your act. Put on a smile and behave."

The dwarf paused in the now-open door of the cell and gave the Deputy a mocking smile before sauntering off. Graham then turned to Henry and laughed at the expression on his face.

"Seriously?" Henry deadpanned.

"Cora's drinks were a little stronger than we thought," the Deputy replied, reaching through the bars to hand Henry the coffee he was carrying.

"I wasn't drunk," Henry argued. "There was a wolf standing in the middle of the road."

"A wolf. Right."

Henry was about to defend himself again when that same voice that had seemed to only live in his dreams for years echoed through the station.

"Graham!" a voice called out from the front of the station. A few moments later, Regina Mills whipped around the corner and into the room. "Your forgot your—oh, what is he doing here?"

Henry took a deep breath as he reveled in the sight of his mother again. He tried not to stare at her and there was a part of him that didn't want to stare because it was almost too painful, painful to see her again after so long knowing that she didn't know him; knowing that they no longer knew each other. But at the same time, he couldn't help but want to just drink in her presence.

He'd spent twenty-one years without his parents, parents who had loved him so dearly that they had been willing to sacrifice their own happiness just to keep him with them. And seeing one of his mothers again was like breaking water with your lungs stinging in your chest and taking in that first deep, relieving breath.

All he wanted was to embrace her.

"Bit of an accident last night," Graham explained.

"What kind of accident?"

Right about that time, another voice rang through the station, and chills shot straight down Henry's spine as he recognized it. And in that moment, he knew. In only seconds, he would see yet another face that had haunted his dreams for decades. The face of his other mother—Emma.

"Graham!" she hollered, just as Regina had done, but with a less sharp edge to her voice. "Just got a call from the Pharmac—"

As Emma came around the corner, she stopped mid-sentence. "Well shit," she said as she took in the sight of the three people before her. "Guess we got a crowd in here this morning." She chuckled a bit, and Regina rolled her eyes, but Henry didn't notice.

His eyes drank in the sight of his other mother as if the image of her had been poured straight from the fountain of youth. Like Regina, Emma was exactly as Henry remembered her. Long blonde hair, dimpled chin, and striking emerald eyes. She smiled awkwardly and Henry couldn't hold in his laugh. It just spilled out of him, which gained him some strange stares of course; so, he quickly clamped his mouth shut and just went back to staring at her, to staring at both her and Regina. It was so strange and yet so wonderful to have both his mothers in the same room again.

"Madam Mayor," the blonde muttered gruffly in Regina's direction, to which Regina simply sneered and snapped out, "Sheriff Swan."

Henry noticed the interaction and found it odd. It seemed there was some serious tension between his mothers. And Swan? Emma's last name was Swan?

It seemed, so far, like Cora and Regina were the only two who had retained their actual names. Everyone else had some strange variation or a completely different name altogether. Then again, he had no idea who Graham was, so he didn't actually know for sure.

"Who's this guy?" Emma asked, pointing toward Henry.

"Henry White," Graham told her, and Henry saw it again—that flash, that same flash he had seen in Regina's eyes the night before. But just like with his other mother, it was gone in only seconds.

"Uh, okay," Emma mumbled in a way that was so similar to Henry he nearly laughed out loud again. His heart was pounding with joy. "Well, I meant to grab you and go, Graham, because the Pharmacist called and said that he saw the Young boys come out of the comic store with a ton of stuff. You know the guy spies on everyone. Anyway, I guess we should check it out since we both know they don't have that kind of money."

"Those boys are such a nuisance," Regina scoffed, but no one really paid any attention to the comment, except Emma who just rolled her eyes and looked back at her Deputy.

"Do you have any idea where they might be?" Graham asked her, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Nope."

"Well, finding people is kind of what I do," Henry cut in quickly. "If you let me out of here, I could try to find them for you."

* * *

"As we build our birdhouses, remember what we're making is a home, not a cage," the pixie-haired woman told her class as she walked between the desks and toward the window. She carried a small bluebird tenderly between her hands. "A bird is free and will do what it will. This is for them, not us. They're loyal creatures." She held her hand out the window and watched as the bird flew beautifully away from her before she turned back to her class. "If you love them and they love you, they will always find you."

The bell rang and the kids all jumped from their seats and rushed for the door.

"We'll pick this up after recess. No running!"

As the students were making their way from the classroom, one reached out to hand her an apple.

"Why thank you," the petite woman said with a smile, before noticing that someone taller than her waistline had entered the room.

"Oh hi, honey," she exclaimed happily as the Sheriff walked into the room. "What are you doing here?" She then noticed Graham as he stepped in behind Emma followed by the timid form of a young man she didn't recognize. "Oh, Deputy Mills, hello, and I'm sorry, who are you?"

Henry's jaw dropped, nearly slamming into his chest as he stared at the woman, completely shocked. There was no doubt that this woman was his grandmother, but her hair. Well, it was gone. He had never known Snow White not to have long, flowing raven locks, though by the time the curse was cast, she had grown older. Gray strands had greatly filtered through her dark locks, and Henry could see them still in her pixie cut.

She was still as beautiful and sweet as he remembered, her voice silky and tender, and he had to stop himself from rushing forward to embrace her as memories came rushing back. Pony rides and late-night stories with his grandparents. His eyes stung so hard that he had to lift a hand up to rub at them.

"I'm uh…I'm…Henry," he finally managed to choke out as he lifted a hand in an awkward wave. "I'm Henry."

She offered him a sweet smile as she nodded. "Hello Henry."

She then turned back to Emma. "I take it this isn't a personal visit?"

"I'm afraid not," Graham said, cutting in. "Sorry to bother you Miss Blanchard, but have you seen the Young boys?"

"No, I haven't. I assumed they skipped school yet again."

"So, you didn't give them your credit card?" Emma asked. "I know how charitable you can be."

Snow rolled her eyes playfully. "No, of course not. Why?"

"Well, apparently they bought a ton of comics this morning and used your credit card to pay for them," Emma told her.

Snow's eyebrows scrunched as she made her way over to her desk and pulled her purse from a drawer. She looked in her wallet only to let out a low sigh. "Clever boys."

"Alright, well, I'll take care of it," Emma said, sighing in much the same way as Snow. "Thanks Mom."

Henry snapped to attention at that. _Mom? _So, apparently his grandmother and his blonde mother had not been separated because of the curse, though they definitely had altered names and memories. This was so weird, but he couldn't help but feel a little elated because at least they hadn't been alone.

"You're welcome." Snow smiled at her daughter. "See you later this evening."

Emma just nodded and made for the door, Graham shuffling along behind her, but Henry held back for a moment.

He stared at his grandmother long enough for her to notice, and she just laughed as his face went red and he quickly spun on the spot to leave. As he turned, though, he smacked into her desk and knocked a large stack of books to the floor.

"Damn," he muttered. "Sorry about that, Gra—uh, Miss Blanchard, was it?"

"It's quite alright," the woman said softly as she made her way around to help him pick up the books, "and you can call me Mary Margaret."

"Mary Margaret," Henry reiterated, mulling it over. He stacked the books up one by one, and when he got to the last one, he noticed that it was larger than all the others. Bound in brown leather, the book had a scrawling golden script across it that read: _Once Upon A Time. _

Henry chuckled to himself, because damn if that wasn't ironic as all hell. He had been thoroughly shocked in his youth to learn that there were stories and even movies about his actual family. The people of this world called them fairytales and no one believed that they were real. That had been one hell of shock, to be sure. "A book of fairytales, huh?" he asked her.

"Oh yes," his grandmother hummed with a smile as she took the book from him. "These stories are classics."

"Think so?" he asked as they stood and began to make their way out of her classroom, side by side.

"Well, there's a reason we all know them," she answered matter-of-factly as she carried the book against her chest. "They're a way for us to deal with our world, a world that doesn't always make sense. These stories provide us with the most important thing anyone can have—hope."

"Hope?"

She smiled as she nodded and passed the book back to him. "Here, you have it."

Henry soaked in her smile as he took the book like it was truly precious. "You know, Henry," she continued, "believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing."

Henry felt his throat tighten again as his heart clenched painfully in his chest. He cleared his throat roughly and did his best to return her smile.

"You know where those kids are, don't you?" Henry asked her.

"You might want to check their castle."

* * *

_"You can't, sweetie," Regina told her son softly as she held him in her lap and rubbed his back. "The wardrobe, it only takes one, and your mother and I can't let you go alone."_

_ "But the prophecy!" Henry whined, his little hands wrapping and unwrapping around Regina's own._

_ Regina sighed as she kissed the side of his head. Her heart had not stopped pounding in hours, not since she and Emma had been informed that the forest animals had fled for fear of an approaching darkness. She could only assume it to mean one thing. The curse._

_ "I know, but I don't want you to worry about that, Henry. Your mother and I will take care of you no matter what, and even if things do get a bit scary for a while, at least we will be together, right?"_

_ "No, I have to go to the tree, Mommy," Henry protested again. "The wardrobe."_

_ "No, honey. We've decided not to use the tree, and that is final."_

_ "But I have to, Mommy."_

_ "Henry, listen to me," Regina said as she turned her son in her lap and pulled his little cheeks into her hands. "We will be fine. Do you understand? As long as we stay together, we will all be just fine."_

_ Henry looked like he wanted to protest again, but then he just sighed and nodded his head. "Okay," he whispered sadly._

_ Later that evening, Grumpy stood atop the bell tower, his eyes widening as a billowing cloud of black and purple loomed in the distance, devouring everything in its path. The dwarf shook himself from his own shock and ran to grab the bell cord. He struck it back and forth._

_ "The curse!" he screamed. "It's here!"_

_ At the sound of the alarming chime, all within the palace began to panic. Emma and Regina, who had been sitting down to dinner with their son, looked up at one another with fear in their eyes. It was finally happening. _

_ They shot out of their seats and took off, Regina sweeping Henry into her arms as they ran from the dining hall. Emma was determined to reach her parents' bedchambers to ensure that they were all together when the curse took them, but just as they reached the final corridor, a door burst open to the side of them and the Dark Queen's guards came charging in._

_ Their black armor glinted in the glow of the torches lining the corridor as they rushed forward with their swords drawn. Emma pushed Regina and Henry behind her as she drew her own sword and leapt into the fray. _

_ "Go!" she shouted to her wife as the chilling clang of steel against steel rang through the palace._

_ Regina placed Henry on the floor and urged him on. "Go, Henry. Go to your grandparents. I have to help Momma."_

_ "No, not without you," Henry cried, tears streaming down his cheeks as fear struck every cell in his body._

_ "I'll be fine, baby," Regina rushed to reassure him. "Now be a good boy and go. I love you, Henry. Go."_

_ With tears in his eyes, the little boy took off down the corridor, running as fast as he could. Regina watched him for only a moment before the sounds behind her captured her attention once more. She turned with fury in her eyes and summoned a fireball in each hand._

_ "Regina, don't!" Emma cried out as she turned to see her wife coming to her aid. "Don't!" she screamed again, the words coming out in a low grunt as she used all of her strength to push away a guard's rush attack. "Go with Henry! Go!"_

_ "Emma, I can't—"_

_ "GO, DAMMIT!" Emma shouted out. "I'm right behind you."_

_ Regina hesitated only a moment longer, biting her lip as tears danced in her eyes, before she whirled on the spot and disappeared in a cloud of purple. She reappeared in her parents-in-law's bedchamber and saw them huddled together in the open archway of their balcony window. She gasped as she saw the massive cloud billowing in the distance beyond them, and knew that they were simply waiting for it to come. They had all known this would happen, and no matter how they had tried, they had found no way to stop it._

_ Regina then realized that something was missing. She instantly grew frantic as she glanced around before shouting out, "WHERE IS HENRY?!"_

_ Snow and James instantly turned, worry spilling into their eyes. "We thought he was with you and Emma?" James said, immediately reaching for his sword to go on the hunt for his grandson._

_ "No, I sent him here. Oh gods!" Regina shouted again._

_ Emma worked her way down the corridor, her sword taking down guard after guard, and just as she darted through the final intersection of corridors before her parents chambers, she saw a flash of color that caught her attention. She turned her head to see her seven-year-old son sprinting through a door at the end of the corridor, the door that led to his own bedchamber._

_ "Henry!" she screamed before she wailed in pain as her distraction cost her. One of the guards' swords sliced painfully across her shoulder. She glanced down to see blood begin to soak through her white tunic. _

_ Emma quickly smacked away the guard's sword with her own before head-butting the man. As soon as he went down, she took off down the corridor after her son. She could hear the guards chasing after her as she ran, and her heart was pounding so forcefully in her chest that she could hardly keep her focus._

_ She slammed through the door to Henry's bedchamber just in time to see his small body climbing into the wardrobe._

_ "No!" Emma shouted. "No, Henry don't!"_

_ "I'm sorry, Momma," Henry said as he sat down inside the wardrobe and reached for the door. "I have to give you and Mommy your best chance."_

_ And with those words, he closed the door, shutting himself inside._

_ "NO!" Emma screamed so loud that her throat felt as if it were shredding. "HENRY!"_

_ Tears spilled down her cheeks as she raced forward, but she barely took a step before she felt a hard weight slam into her back followed by a searing, burning pain, and then she was falling. She glanced down as her body teetered forward and saw the blood spilling from her abdomen as the point of a sword retreated from her body. She hit the ground with a hard thud, her focus blurring and her racing heart slowing to a dull lullaby. She stared at the wardrobe until her final breath, and the last thing she saw was a guard pulling open the wardrobe's door to reveal nothing but a hollow within._

* * *

"Alright kids, game's over," Emma said as she and Henry made their way toward a rickety old play castle a little way from the beach. They had dropped Graham off at the station to have lunch with Regina, and though Henry was exhausted, he had asked to tag along.

Two young boys turned at the voice, smirks stretching their faces as they sat in the castle with their laps full of comics. "You're losing your touch, you know, Peter?" Emma called out. "You left a trail this time, some hard evidence."

"Maybe I wanted you to know it was me," the blonde boy said. "Maybe I wanted to be found. It's always more fun when you get in trouble."

The brunette boy beside him sniggered.

"Yeah, yeah, cough up the card," Emma said as she rolled her eyes at them and stretched out her hand for the card.

Peter just continued to laugh as he dropped Mary Margaret's credit card into the Sheriff's hand with a shrug.

"You're lucky I don't lock you both up," Emma told them before nodding her head in the direction of the town. "Go on. Get home. And don't think I'm not going to report this to the shelter. I'll keep you on stricter leash if I have to, so don't push me. And both of you will work to repay Miss Blanchard."

The boys just laughed and poked at each other as they ran off, leaving Emma and Henry to watch them go. The Sheriff sighed as she plopped down on the open edge of the castle's floor and patted the space beside her. Henry scratched his neck awkwardly before just shrugging and moving to sit beside his mother.

"You went pretty easy on those kids considering they stole your mother's credit card and racked up quite the bill," Henry said as he tried not to look at her to prevent himself from staring.

"Yeah, well, the Young boys have had a rough life," she told him. "Peter and Rufus—brothers, orphans. They can't even remember their parents. They live in the shelter here and like to get into trouble, but I think they just crave the attention. I can't imagine what it's like to not have anyone to call family or to call your own, you know? How someone could just abandon their kids…I'll never know."

"A shelter isn't much better than having shitty parents or no parents. And the foster system isn't the best either."

Emma stared at him for a long moment. He didn't see it, but he could feel her eyes on him. "Better than living on the streets," she muttered after a few moments.

"Not always," he countered.

"Speaking from personal experience?"

"Unfortunately yeah. I was uh…abandoned," he reluctantly told her, because he hated using that word. His parents hadn't abandoned him. _She _hadn't abandoned him, and yet that was the only plausible story for how he ended up in the system other than to say that his parents had died, and he didn't want to do that either. "Picked up by the cops on the side of a highway when I was seven. I got placed with a family right away but they ended up having a kid of their own and sent me back. After that…I just got shuffled from house to house. Nobody really wanted the older kids. They wanted the babies or the squishy little toddlers. So, yeah, I just bounced around until I couldn't take it anymore. Ran away when I was sixteen."

"Wow…I…I don't even know what to say. Guess your parents were real assholes, huh?"

"Maybe," Henry muttered quietly. "Maybe they were just trying to give me my best chance."

"Yeah, well there's no way I could leave my kid on the side of a highway."

"You have kids?"

"Nah." Emma shook her head solemnly. "I couldn't be somebody's mom. I can't even make toast without setting the toaster on fire."

"I bet you'd be a good mom," Henry told her quietly, ducking his head as that burning sensation built up in his throat again.

"You're not fishing for a date, are you?"

Henry choked on his own saliva. "No, no, I'm sorry."

"Ha, relax. I'm just messing with you."

They fell into an awkward silence at that, but it seemed to bother Emma as much as it did Henry, so she quickly tried to make conversation again.

"So, a stranger in Storybrooke. Not a common occurrence. Things mostly just stay the same here—same people, same routines."

"Well maybe I'm here to shake things up a bit," Henry told her.

"Oh yeah? Thinking about sticking around for a while?"

"Maybe."

"Well, prepare for the interrogation if you do. Cora Mills, the Mayor's mother and personal advisor basically owns this town and she hates outsiders. You'd think _she _was the Mayor half the time. Then again, they both have sticks stuck up their asses, so I guess they make a good team."

"Yeah, I met her," Henry said with a nod. "So, I take it you don't like the Mayor?"

Emma just chuckled. "We don't exactly get along, but it's more like she doesn't like me. I've never really figured out why, though."

"I see," Henry whispered as he lost himself in the tragedy of that confession. It hurt him in more ways than he could even comprehend or express. His mothers had been apart for so long, unable to recognize one another, unable to love one another. It broke his heart.

After a while, his eyelids began to droop. That was a sign that he needed to go and finally get some rest. He sighed as he stood up. "Well, I guess I better get going. I'm dying for a couple hours of sleep. Can you point me in the direction of the Bed and Breakfast. Your Deputy said there was one in town."

"Oh yeah, that's Granny's," Emma told him, standing as well. "It's just behind the diner on Main Street. Right down from the clock tower. You can't miss it. I'll walk with you."

"Speaking of the clock tower," Henry said as they made their way toward the town. "I noticed that it seemed to be stuck at 8:15?"

"Yeah, been that way for as long as I can remember. I guess it's broken."

"Huh. Weird." He stared at it as they drew nearer the town. When they reached the point of parting ways, he smiled at his mother and said, "Well, thanks for letting me tag along today. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see ya," Emma said with a wave before making her way back toward the station.

* * *

_Regina appeared in Henry's bedchamber in a swirling cloud of purple, her eyes instantly widening at the horrific sight before her. She rushed forward as tears spilled down her cheeks and dripped over her chin._

"_No," she cried as she slid to the floor and pulled her bloody and motionless wife into her arms. She smacked at Emma's cheeks in an attempt to rouse her. "No, Emma. No, no, come on. Come on, Emma. Please, please come back to me."_

_She leaned down and pressed her lips to Emma's over and over, but to no avail. Those emerald eyes remained closed, and Regina cried harder than she ever had in her life._

_ "Oh don't worry dear," a cold voice sounded from the doorway. Regina looked up to see her mother, adorned in layers of black and grinning wickedly. Cora stepped into the room, but never took her eyes from her daughter. "In a few moments, you won't remember you knew her, let alone loved her."_

"_Why did you do this?" Regina cried._

_Cora snarled at her as she leaned forward and in a deadly growl said, "Because this is my happy ending."_

_Two of her guards filed in behind her and she turned to them, her brow quirking._

"_The child?" she asked._

"_Gone," one of the guards told her. He pointed toward the wardrobe just to Regina's left. "He was in the wardrobe, and then…he was gone."_

_Regina's eyes widened just as Cora whirled on the spot to face her._

"_Where is he?" the Dark Queen shouted._

_Regina let out a laughing sigh as realization sank in. Her hand unconsciously stroked Emma's cheek as she kept her beloved cradled against her chest. "He got away," she whispered reverently, and then she turned triumphant eyes to her mother. "You're going to lose. I know that now. Good will always win."_

_Cora's lip curled in disgust. "We'll see about that."_

_A screaming roar ripped through the room, and both Cora and Regina looked up at the sound to see the ceiling beginning to crumble and rip away into a swirling vortex of black and purple smoke. Fear tore through Regina's heart even as her mother began to laugh, a cold, dark laugh._

"_Where are we going?" Regina asked as the windows shattered around them and glass shards swirled into the air. She huddled over her wife to protect her despite the fact that Emma was gone._

"_Somewhere horrible," Cora cried out triumphantly. "Absolutely horrible."_

_Cora held her arms out at her sides as the billowing clouds enveloped them, her final words ringing in the air. "A place where the only happy ending will be mine."_

* * *

Emma made her way into the station, only to instantly wish that she hadn't when she saw that not only was the Mayor still there, having her lunch with Graham, but the Mayor's mother was there as well. Emma could hardly stand the woman.

"Well, from what I've heard," Regina instantly began, looking to Emma with a forced smile, "it seems that the stranger has taken quite a shine to you, Sheriff Swan."

Emma just shrugged. "Ha, yeah. You know, he's actually a pretty nice guy. Said he might stick around for a while, so I sent him over to Granny's for a room."

"I hope you didn't encourage this idea, Sheriff," Regina said bitterly, and all Emma could think was _here we go. _Apparently Graham thought the same thing, because he quickly rose to his feet, muttering something about needing the bathroom before taking off out of the room. Regina ignored him as she went on. "Don't misunderstand my kindness to the man as invitation for him to stay. The town is perfect as it is, quiet and orderly. We don't need some big-city bounty hunter moving in and shaking things up."

Emma couldn't help but wonder where this had come from, considering that Regina hadn't seemed that bothered by Henry earlier that day. She could only guess that this was coming from Cora. The lady did have her daughter on a set of strings after all. The woman was a puppeteer and Regina was her prized puppet. Emma wondered if the Mayor ever actually made any decisions without the rigid input of Cora Mills.

"We know nothing about him after all," Regina continued. "Who knows where he was or what he was doing before he came here? He could be trouble, and while you may be fine with that, don't forget that I am the one who runs this town. I am the one who spends countless hours soothing the concerns of the citizens, enduring their tantrums and endless proposals, and managing every town crisis. You may be the Sheriff, but this is _my _town."

"Seriously?" Emma deadpanned. "I wasn't trying to pull one over on you Regina. I was just trying to show the guy a little hospitality. Do you want the town getting a reputation for being unkind to outsiders?"

Regina shot up from her chair, anger spilling into her chocolate eyes. "How dare you suggest that I wish ill upon this town!"

"Regina," Cora cut in. Emma rolled her eyes as Regina clenched her own tightly closed. The Mayor let out a frustrated sigh upon having been interrupted by her mother. "Why don't you run along, dear, and let the good Sheriff get on with her day?"

Regina cut a vicious glare at Emma before whirling on her heel and stomping out of the room to leave her mother alone with the Sheriff.

As soon as she was out of sight, Emma, who positively could not _stand _Cora Mills for reasons she didn't entirely understand, just rolled her eyes and said, "Thanks," before making her way to her desk. She only made a few steps, though, before Cora started in on her.

"Sheriff," she sang silkily, her voice all sugar even though Emma knew that that woman was bitter to the core. The Sheriff didn't bother to look at her, but she did stop. She stood with her back to the Mills matriarch and waited for her to pass out whatever insult or degrading order she had to offer that day. Sure enough, only seconds later, Cora continued her thought.

"If I were you, I would remember my place," the older brunette warned. "My daughter can say whatever she likes, dear, but we both know that this is _my _town, and what I say goes. And I say that you need to get rid of this stranger. Drive him out of town. And if you don't, I'll see to it myself. However, Sheriff, let it be known that there will be consequences should you choose to defy me. I think you and I both know the kind of power I possess in this town, the authority. I don't take kindly to people undermining said authority. So, keep in mind that should you do anything to threaten the peaceful routine of this town, I _will _destroy you…if it is the last thing I do."

Emma just sighed as she dropped down into her seat, Cora's heels clicking along the hallway and out of the station.


	3. Chapter 3: The Thing You Love Most, Pt 1

**A/N: Just to clear something up: Everything in this story cannot POSSIBLY and will not perfectly mirror everything in canon. There have to be obvious adjustments, such as the ways in which I have manipulated the curse (which you will learn more about as we progress). Some things mirror canon but others have to be significantly different in order to suit the direction of the story and the altered position of characters.**

**Some of the characters cannot be exactly as they are in canon, because they have completely different pasts in this story. It would be illogical for them to be the same. And I have had more than one mention about why Regina and Emma are not instantly drawn to one another as Snowing was. Again, not everything in this story is going to be exactly as it was in canon, but you will learn more about the whys of this particular note as we progress.**

**So, again, some things will be a perfect parallel of canon while others will be completely different. **

**Also, the very beginning of this chapter is technically the end of the Pilot episode, but Chapter 2 was getting way too long, so I carried it over.**

**Thank you all for the awesome feedback on this story so far. I'm thrilled to see that many of you are as excited about it as I was when I received the prompt. I hope you all continue to enjoy as we progress. XO-Chrmdpoet**

Chapter Three: The Thing You Love Most, Pt. 1

Henry smacked at the overgrown bushes and ivy surrounding the gates and walkway to Granny's Bed & Breakfast and wondered how long it had been since someone had maintenanced the place, let alone actually spent a night there. If the interior was as pitiful as the exterior, then Henry would bet it had been quite some time. Then again, both the Deputy and Henry's mother, the Sheriff, had informed him that strangers never passed through Storybrooke.

Henry took a moment to think on that as he stomped and wiped his boots on the mat in front of the door to clear away any excess dirt before entering. He couldn't be sure, but he was willing to bet that no stranger had ever visited Storybrooke before him. Perhaps it was his blood connection to some of the town's residents or perhaps it was his own role in the prophecy that allowed him to find the place, but Henry wagered that either way, the town was somehow magically protected.

Perhaps it was invisible. Perhaps it simply put out a righteous odor that drove people far, far away. Henry chuckled to himself at that one as he pushed open the door to the B&B.

As soon as he entered the place, two very familiar voices rang out in lively argument.

"You're out all night and now you're going out again."

"I should've moved to Boston."

"I'm sorry that my heart attack interfered with your plans to sleep your way down the eastern seaboard."

Henry couldn't stop the massive grin that had split his lips at the mere sound of the voices, not to mention the hilarity of the commentary, but when two people emerged into his line of sight at the bottom of a staircase, Henry's smile somehow only widened.

He did his best to shake it off, so that he could pretend he didn't know the two squabbling women, but Henry could never forget those two. The Widow Lucas and her granddaughter, Red—they were nearly as much a part of his family as his own grandparents. Red, after all, was his godmother, just as she was Emma's godmother.

_Whoa_. Henry's eyes bugged a little as he realized what his godmother was actually wearing. It seemed Red had quite taken to the fashions of this world; he had never seen her in such scandalous clothing. Then again, few people wore scandalous clothing in the Enchanted Forest.

There were no skinny jeans or booty shorts. No spaghetti-strap tanks or halter tops. There were clothing items in this world that few in the Enchanted Forest could have ever even dreamed up in their wildest fantasies.

A corset and some cleavage was about as scandalous as it got in the Enchanted Forest.

Neither Granny nor Ruby seemed to even notice he was there, so Henry swallowed the laughter threatening to burst forward and cleared his throat.

"Excuse me," he said politely. Granny jumped a bit but then whirled around to face him. "I'd like a room."

It was then that Red came back into view, her eyes instantly narrowing at him before widening in appreciation. Her eyes slowly tracked the length of his body from his short, messy brown hair bent this way and that with a bit of gel, to his warm, chocolate eyes and soft lips ringed within a dark chocolate-colored and freshly trimmed goatee that covered his strong chin. Were the hair absent, one would see the small dimple that adorned that chin and made it so like his grandmother's and Emma's. She tracked the rigid muscles of his long neck to his broad shoulders and chest beneath a dark gray v-neck and an olive green bomber jacket, and down to his faded jeans strapping long legs and his thick-soled black lace-up boots. Henry then watched as her eyes traveled all the way back up his body to meet his own.

She smiled at him, a flirtatious little grin that had Henry's cheeks flushing a bright shade of pink; not that he hadn't already been blushing since the moment her gaze began its descent down his body. He shivered a bit at the thought of a woman who had once changed his diapers now being interested in him; but then, it wasn't the weirdest thing that could happen or that already had.

Granny, who was clearly excited by the prospect of an actual paying customer, nearly had to pick her jaw up off the floor as she asked, "Really?"

Henry just chuckled and nodded, and that seemed to snap the elder woman into action. She grinned brightly at him as she took off around to the front desk, jabbering as she went. "Would you like a forest view or a square view? Normally there's an upgrade fee for the square but if you're interested, I'll just waive it."

"Square is fine," Henry told her with a shrug of his shoulders and a smile.

"Excellent!" She pulled the large sign-in book toward her and grabbed a pen as she adjusted her glasses. "Now, what's the name?"

"White. Henry White."

"Henry," a raspy voice hissed from behind him, causing him to whirl on the spot. The man standing there seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, his beady, knowing eyes boring into Henry's own. Henry didn't have a clue as to who the guy was, though he could tell the guy had money—standing there in his perfectly tailored and pressed suit with his stiff tie, flat-ironed hair, and fistful of bling. He didn't recognize him from his childhood, but he couldn't deny the cold and ominous feeling that the man gave him. "What a lovely name."

Henry just sort of stared at the guy wondering if he should know him from somewhere because the man's eyes sure were tracking Henry like they knew him somehow. It made him incredibly uneasy. "Uh, thanks?" Henry managed to get out.

The man simply nodded before cutting his eyes back to Granny. She held a wad of cash out to him as she timidly croaked, "It's all here."

"Yes, yes of course it is, dear," he said with a respectful nod as he took the money. "Thank you." The man then surprisingly turned back toward Henry and locked gazes with him once more. A slow smile curved the man's thin lips as he tipped his head forward. "You enjoy your stay, Henry."

And then he was gone, limping from the B&B with the help of his ornate and obviously rather expensive cane. Henry stood there, completely bewildered, and waited until the guy was completely out of sight. He then turned back to Granny, his confusion and slight discomfort still showing on his face.

"Who's that?" he asked her, but it was his godmother than answered.

"Mr. Gold," Red said from behind him. The same unease that Henry felt on his flesh was mirrored in Red's eyes. She still shivered a bit in the wake of the man's departure. "He owns this place."

"The inn?"

"No," Granny told him, shaking her head. "The town."

There was a long awkward silence as Henry tried to drink that information in. Who, other than the Evil Queen, would have that much power in this world? Surely, she would have provided only for herself or in the interest of her own personal gain. Unless, of course, she had not acted alone with the curse. Perhaps, she had at least one ally after all.

Henry determined to find out more about this Mr. Gold fellow, possibly uncover the man's true identity.

"So, how long will you be with us?" Granny asked, pulling him back to the moment.

"Oh, uh, I don't know," Henry stammered out as he rubbed at the back of his neck and through his hair. His exhaustion seemed to grow with every passing second, as if his brain somehow knew that there was a bed with his name on it in the vicinity and thus it was slowly going to sleep without his consent. "A week at least, but maybe longer."

Truthfully, he would stay however long he needed to stay in order to rescue his parents, but he had to be careful about it. He had to tread lightly.

And most importantly, he had to remain a mystery; at least until he could get his foot in the door and a strong place in the community. How he was going to go about accomplishing that—he hadn't a clue.

"Great!" Granny exclaimed as she reached across the desk to hand him a long metal key that looked as if it would unlock some ancient or incredibly secret and powerful door. "Welcome to Storybrooke!"

_Damn, _Henry thought as he palmed the key and turned toward the stairs. _I bet this key could get me into Narnia or some shit. _He then laughed at himself and thought, _Man, I seriously need to sleep._

* * *

Mary Margaret Blanchard slipped onto the couch by the window in her small loft apartment and chomped on a spoonful of cereal as she took in the sight of the town in the early morning light. She could hear the birds chirping beautifully as they flapped from tree to tree, power line to power line. She could see a few of Storybrooke's residents milling around in the streets below, most likely off to work or on their way to breakfast.

This was something that Mary Margaret did each and every morning, a part of her daily routine for the last twenty-one years. This morning, however, something was different.

At first, she wasn't quite sure what it was. Her eyes raked over the sight of the town once more, but nothing stood out until her gaze swept quickly over the clock tower a third time. Her emerald eyes instantly shot back to the large face of the clock, her brows furrowing as she realized what had changed.

The time.

For the first time in as long as she could remember, the giant hands of that clock had actually moved.

It was no longer 8:15 in Storybrooke.

* * *

Henry groaned as he stuffed his head deeper and deeper into his pillow to try and block out the stream of sunlight spilling through the thin white curtain on his room's window. "Nooooo," he whined into the mattress, the word muffled and thick against the material. He was ever a child when it came to such things as forcing himself out of bed.

Finally, though, he gave in to the demanding shine of Maine's morning sun and crawled across the mattress until he could plant his feet on the floor. The sensitive skin on the bottom of his feet prickled and stung with the biting cold of the floor as he crossed the small room and glanced out the window. He was only half-surprised to realize that he wasn't looking at a cityscape of Boston.

Everything came rushing back in one mind-boggling wave of reality. He was in an enchanted town called Storybrooke, and he had finally found his parents.

* * *

Regina and Cora thoroughly exercised their power struts as they made their way down Main Street. Regina completely ignored her mother as she went, wishing the woman would provide her just one day in the office without her. A loud, ringing chime echoed through the town, but Regina simply kept up her pace, the chime hardly penetrating her thoughts. However, she realized only a moment later that Cora was no longer beside her.

Regina stopped and turned to see her mother a few paces back, eyes squinting as she stared up at something. The Mayor marched back over to her mother, already sighing as she asked, "What is it, Mother?"

Cora said nothing as she continued to stare up, so Regina followed the woman's gaze and was startled to realize that the clocktower clock was no longer stuck at 8:15 as it had been for as long as she could remember. Strange.

Ultimately, Regina was unfazed by this new development, but she was surprised to see her mother so completely perplexed by it, if not a bit unnerved.

"Hey, how 'bout that," the town therapist said as he approached the two women, his eyes, too, fixated on the clock. He reached down to pat his Dalmatian on the back as he squinted at the newly reanimated clock. "Guess those rusty old innards finally straightened themselves out, huh?"

Regina merely nodded her head, but her mother seemed completely frustrated. She didn't understand the woman's behavior, but she cared little to question it. If the old bat wanted to have a panic attack over an old clock, so be it. It hardly concerned the Mayor.

"Yes, how 'bout that, indeed," Cora hissed as she finally pulled her gaze from the clock tower and glanced around the street, only to spot a vintage yellow Volkswagen just a little way up the road. Her eyes narrowed as her suspicion grew, though she hardly needed to contemplate who the young man was. A name like that and access to the town—it could only be one person.

The progeny of the White Queens—her grandson. The Savior.

Cora and Regina bid a good day to the therapist, who responded with a kind bow of his head and a cheeful "Madam Mayor, Miss Mills," and continued their trek to Town Hall, although they had barely walked a few steps before Cora reached out and grabbed Regina's arm to stop her.

"What is it now?" Regina asked, obviously annoyed.

Cora gave her a sharp look that made Regina regret her snippy attitude instantly. "Sorry, Mother," she murmured under her breath, but Cora simply waved away the comment.

"Regina, you need to fix this," she told her daughter in a rushed whisper.

"Fix what?"

"This business with the stranger in town; that Henry person," Cora explained. "I want him gone as soon as possible."

"Honestly, Mother, I don't understand your aversion to the man," Regina scoffed with a well-masked eye-roll. "I did as you asked and discouraged Em—I mean, the Sheriff, from engaging him further. What more would you like for me to do?"

"I don't care what you do," Cora hissed at her. "Just do it, and do it quickly. We know hardly anything about this man, and I have a feeling he might be trouble."

"Well, I can't just openly threaten him, Mother!"

"No, not _openly_, but you _can _threaten him."

"Why can you not do this yourself?"

"You are the Mayor, Regina," Cora told her. "This is your responsibility. Now go take care of this."

"_Now?_" Regina asked incredulously. "You want me to go get rid of the man _now?_"

Cora quirked a brow at her daughter as she whispered, "Did I stutter?" She didn't wait for an answer before she sauntered off toward Town Hall, leaving Regina to stew and steam on the sidewalk.

* * *

Henry had just finished brewing himself some coffee in the small pot in his room when a knock sounded on the door. He blew at his steaming coffee as he carried the mug over and pulled the door open to reveal none other than his mother, Regina, holding a large basket full of bright red apples.

Henry's cheeks instantly reddened upon realizing that he had answered the door in absolutely nothing but a tight pair of black boxer briefs. Regina, though, seemed entirely unfazed. She took one swift sweeping look at his lack of attire and then at his flushed cheeks and rolled her eyes as if she couldn't possibly care less.

Catching herself, Regina quickly killed the eye-roll and plastered on one of the largest, fakest smiles Henry had ever received. She was more than ready to get this over with.

"Did you know the honeycrisp tree is the most vigorous and hardy of all apple trees?" she asked him with an entirely forced and chipper tone.

Henry quirked a brow at her and bit his lip to keep himself from laughing. He didn't have the slightest clue what was going on.

"It can survive temperatures as low as forty below and keep growing," Regina continued in that same feigned cheer. "It can weather any storm." She pulled an apple from the top of the pile and held it out to him. "My mother has one that she has tended to since she was a little girl, and to this day, we have yet to taste anything more delicious than the fruit it offers."

Henry chuckled a bit as he continued to stare at his mother. After a few moments, though, he simply shrugged his shoulders. "Uh, thanks."

"I'm sure you'll enjoy them on your drive home."

He actually did laugh out loud at that one. _Ah, _he thought, _okay. I get it now. _He shook his head as he told his mother, "Actually, I'm gonna stay for a while."

Regina pursed her lips together, showing her obvious frustration even as she pushed the apple she was still holding further toward him. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

"Oh?" Henry asked as he finally reached out to take the apple. His fingers brushed over Regina's knuckles as he took the fruit. "And why is that?"

The moment Henry's fingertips slipped over Regina's knuckles, the Mayor's dark chocolate eyes glazed over. It lasted only a second, but Henry could tell that that single second was significant—why? He didn't have a clue. All he knew was that in that one second, something had happened.

It reminded him of the night he'd "met" her, standing on the porch of 108 Mifflin Street. There had been a flash in her eyes that night when she'd learned of his name, when they'd shaken hands. It was only a flash, but Henry hadn't missed it.

Regina jerked her hand back as her ears filled with the muffled sound of what could only be described as a child giggling. It made her heart race in ways she couldn't understand. As soon as the sound had come, though, it was gone. "I…I'm not sure," she muttered, her eyes locking hard onto Henry's. "Did you hear…I…"

Henry, wanting to tread carefully and honestly having no clue what had just happened, cleared his throat and tried to skirt right past it. He tried to act as if he hadn't noticed Regina's strange reaction to his touch or the awkward vulnerability that had trembled in her voice afterward. Instead, he jumped back to a place that would allow him a little distance from the woman until he could figure out how best to go about fixing everything that was so utterly broken.

"I'm not typically one for staying in any one place for very long," he told her with a smirk, "but I don't think I've ever had someone actively try to kick me out when I haven't done anything wrong. So, I have to tell you, Madam Mayor, that the more I feel threatened, the more I just want to stay."

Regina's brows furrowed for only a moment as she continued to stare into his eyes, identical to her own, before she quickly shook her head. She dismissed whatever it was that had just happened, realizing that the man in front of her hadn't heard a thing, but she couldn't deny that nagging feeling that tugged in her gut. Still, she plastered on that fake smile from before. "Since when are apples a threat?" she asked with feigned innocence.

"I can read between the lines."

Regina's face hardened at that as she finally dropped the façade. If this stranger wanted to cut the shit and play dirty, she was certainly willing because she was absolutely, positively NOT in the mood for niceties. She didn't even want to be there.

She sneered at him as she snapped, "It's time for you to go."

Henry smirked at her again as he asked, "Or what? You'll sick your mommy on me?"

He hated pushing his mother's buttons, but he had to. He couldn't show her too much affection without it seeming inappropriate and he couldn't tell her who he really was without her thinking he was positively deranged. He had to the play the game Cora's way for now, though all really wanted to do was pull Regina into his arms and hug her tightly; oh, and get his grandmother away from her.

It was obvious the woman had his mother on a tight leash.

A fire burned in Regina's eyes as she moved closer, the basket of apples in her hands pressing against Henry's bare chest. She dropped her voice to a hissing whisper. "Don't underestimate her, Mr. White. You have no idea what she's capable of."

She thrust the basket into his arms before whirling on her entirely-too-high heels and strutting away. Before she could round the corner at the end of the hallway, though, Henry called out to her again. "So, it really _is _her that wants me gone then, yeah?"

Regina shot him a vicious glare but said nothing as she marched around the corner, down the stairs, and out of the B&B.

Henry sighed deeply as he closed the door to his room and leaned his back against its surface. "Tell grandma thanks for the apples," he mumbled as he closed his eyes and tried not to let himself get upset, "the evil bitch."

* * *

_Cora appeared in her dark castle on the northern border of the Enchanted Forest. The sword that the White Queen, Emma, had thrown at her just before Cora disappeared in a cloud of purple sunk into the wall behind her with a hard thud. Cora glanced at it and rolled her eyes._

_ "Honestly," she mumbled to herself. "A wedding is no place for a sword fight."_

_ She flicked her long dark ponytail over her shoulders as she marched into her chamber, only to be instantly greeted by a familiar voice._

"_Would you like something to drink?" Henry asked as he stepped toward his wife and held out a small silver tray, a goblet of wine perched atop it. _

_Cora snarled at him as she passed. "Do I look like I need a drink?"_

_ Henry sighed deeply. "I was only trying to help."_

_ That caught Cora's attention. She heard the sorrow in her husband's voice, and as she turned toward him, she let her eyes rake over his aging form. He had refused her offer of magic many years prior, an enchantment that would have slowed or even stopped the aging process. It was the same enchantment she had cast upon herself, but her husband had refused._

_ He had never much been a fan of her magic; still, he had stayed with her through thick and thin, even when she had cast away their daughter for her own personal gain. There was no questioning his devotion to her._

_Cora, feeling slightly guilty for snapping at him, sighed thickly and reached for the goblet. "Thank you," she said gently before taking a sip. He smiled timidly at her and she returned it._

"_Now that was an awfully big threat," another voice rang out, and Cora whirled on the spot to smirk at the man in the mirror. The genie simply quirked an eyebrow at her from his glass prison as he continued. "Destroy _everyone's_ happiness? Now, how do you plan to accomplish that?"_

_Cora took another long sip as she casually said, "A dark curse."_

_The teasing smile on the genie's face instantly faded, and so did the shy one that had only just graced Henry's._

"_Are you sure, Your Majesty?" her husband asked, stepping closer._

"_You said you'd never use it," the genie said. Fear crept into his eyes as he tried to think of something to say to dissuade the queen. He worried that there would be no arguing with her this time, though._

"_You made a deal when you gave away that curse," Henry chimed in again, nodding in agreement with the genie._

"_You traded it away," the genie tried once more._

_Cora, though, was completely unfazed by their obvious attempts to discourage her. She merely shrugged her shoulders and continued to sip at her wine. _

_Henry, realizing that his wife was resolved in her decision, sighed heavily as he shook his head and said, "She won't be happy to see you."_

_Cora chuckled with glee. "Since when do I care about anyone's happiness but mine?" Her tone then turned commanding as she barked at her husband, "Prepare the carriage. I'm going to the forbidden fortress."_

* * *

"_How are you dear?" Maleficent asked sweetly as she poured Cora a bit of tea._

"_I'm doing fine," Cora told her, setting the tea on the small table between their chairs._

_A warm fire crackled before them, warming only the spaces nearest but hardly stretching any further. Maleficent's castle was as vast as Cora's and buried in the frozen mountains of the Icelands. The chill penetrated its walls with a vengeance, which was why Maleficent spent her days clad in heavy layers._

_The blonde witch pushed the feathered train of her heavy cloak to the side as she lowered into the large, ornate chair opposite her guest's. She smirked a bit at her old friend as she asked, "Are you? If it were me, I'd be simply tortured watching that flake of Snow, her fledgling flake, and my own daughter so happy. "_

_Maleficent could hardly help herself. She was starved for company, true, but she had always loved to push Cora's buttons. The woman was far too easy to ignite._

"_Weren't you just about your daughter's age when your husband was disgraced and cast from his family throne, where you then had to scrounge for scraps until you could coerce your way into royalty again?" she asked. "Oh, yes. Yes, you were."_

_Cora pursed her lips as she tried to keep a handle on her temper. Still, she could not resist biting back. "Yes," Cora drawled, "it was about the same age _you_ were when that Sleeping Beauty got the best of you, my dear Maleficent."_

_The smirk fell from Maleficent's pretty lips instantly. She patted at her golden curls and adjusted the purple and pink horns she favored to wear atop her head—a symbol of the beast that dwelled within. She clucked her tongue as she deadpanned, "I soldiered on, as you will, too. Hopefully."_

"_Enough games," Cora finally commanded, finished with this childish banter. "You know why I'm here. I need my curse back."_

"_It's not yours anymore. A deal's a deal. I traded you my sleeping curse."_

"_Which failed," Cora told her angrily. "Undone by a simple kiss. Now, please, return what's mine."_

"_The dark curse," Maleficent drawled. "Really? You must know that not even its unholy power can offer you true happiness. It won't give you your daughter back, nor will it kill her love of the light and apparently of the White."_

_She snorted and laughed out loud at her little rhyming joke as she reached to her left to pet her beloved black unicorn. "Have you considered a pet?" she asked as she stroked his snout. "They can be quite comforting."_

_Cora's face hardened. "The only comfort for me," she growled, "is their suffering—that idiot Snow White, her pathetic princess, and my disgrace of a daughter."_

"_Well, it's your daughter's wedding night to the White Princess; excuse me, the White Queen," Maleficent countered. "I doubt she's suffering right now."_

_Cora bristled before slamming her hand against the arm of her chair. "I need that curse!" she snapped. "I know you keep it hidden in the orb of your staff."_

"_Hidden for the good of all, old friend," Maleficent told her seriously. "Whoever created the recipe for that monstrosity makes the two of us look positively moral." She then narrowed her eyes at Cora. "Who _did_ give you the recipe?"_

"_Where I got it is none of your concern," Cora told her. She stood from her chair and faced the blonde witch as a fury began to burn in her eyes. "Hand it back."_

_Maleficent rolled her eyes and let out a long, frustrated sigh. "Must we do this?"_

"_Alas, we must."_

_Cora summoned a fireball in her right palm and sent it hurtling toward her old friend, just as Maleficent surged up from her chair, leapt across the large open room, and swirled her staff in front of her. It created a field of ice that instantly froze and dispelled Cora's fire._

_Maleficent then watched as a wicked grin stretched Cora's lips. The Dark Queen reached out and flicked her fingers back and forth as she summoned forward the vast array of weaponry Maleficent kept hung on display around the mantle. The weapons rose into the air behind Cora and poised for attack, their deadly points aimed for their owner._

_Maleficent simply returned the queen's smirk, bracing herself for the attack. However, at the last second, Cora's smile turned manic as she turned her hand. Maleficent watched as the various weapons shifted their aim._

"_NO!" Maleficent screamed as she realized the weapons were poised to attack her beloved pet unicorn. She leapt across the room and landed directly in front of the animal just as Cora unleashed the attack. _

_Using her staff, Maleficent was able to dispel the attack once more and save her precious pet, only to be caught off guard by yet another attack thrown at her before she even had a chance to catch her breath._

_Metal binds wrapped around Maleficent's body, and she yelped as they jerked her back, knocking her staff from her hands. It clattered to the ground and rolled toward the Dark Queen as Maleficent's back slammed into a hard stone wall and no matter how she strained against Cora's magical hold, she could not escape it._

_Cora laughed as she strutted forward. "Love is weakness, Maleficent," she taunted. "I thought you knew that."_

"_If you're going to kill me, kill me," the blonde witch growled out, furious at having been bested in her own home, on her own turf._

"_Why would I do that?" Cora asked seriously. "You're my only friend."_

_Maleficent sighed as she watched Cora pick up her staff and twirl it in her hands. "Don't do this, this curse," she pleaded with her old friend. "There are lines even _we_ shouldn't cross. All power comes with a price, Cora. Enacting it will take a terrible toll. It will leave an emptiness inside you, a void you will _never_ be able to fill."_

_Cora flipped the staff and slammed its orb against the marble floor. It shattered to reveal the small scroll hidden within it. She bent to the ground and carefully picked up the scroll. Her eyes shined triumphantly as she stared at it. "So be it."_

* * *

Cora stood on a small stepladder as she tended to her beloved honeycrisp tree. She trimmed in a few places and pulled a shiny red apple from its perch before it could fall. Tending to the tree was one of her favorite pastimes.

It was, however, quickly interrupted.

"_The Mirror_ strikes again!" the familiar voice of her genie, now called Sidney Glass, exclaimed proudly from behind her.

"You're late," Cora told him with a glare. She had seriously considered leaving the man behind when she had cast the curse, but then, who would have done her dirty work for her? Oh right—her daughter.

_Oh well, _Cora thought. It was always better to have two people she could bend to her will than only one. Besides, with Regina, Cora had to tread lightly. She could not overtly request or force the woman to do something heinous or vile. The genie, though—well, he was a different story.

"Sorry. I wanted to bring you the latest edition," he told her as he held up the latest copy of Storybrooke's newspaper—_The Daily Mirror_. Cora still had days where she snorted with laughter at the wicked humor of the curse she had cast. Apparently, in some ways, the thing had a mind of its own and a certain taste for irony. She found it superb. "I assure you it's one of my better hatchet jobs."

The front-page headline read: _Stranger Destroys Historic Sign_. There was a picture of the stranger, Henry, plastered just beneath it. Cora still could not bring herself to acknowledge him for who she suspected he was. It threatened far too much. So she continued to refer to him as "the stranger." Still, she couldn't deny the truth deep in her bones, which was exactly why she was going to the trouble of trying to scare the man off.

She knew who he was and what he was capable of. Her biggest question, though, was whether or not Henry knew as well. He had been so young when the curse was cast and he had been whisked off to another land. Cora couldn't be sure of the man's knowledge of anything.

Thus, her safest bet was just to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

"That isn't what I asked for," Cora drawled, annoyed. She turned away from her lackey and went back to tending to her tree. "What'd you find out about him?"

"Well, the truth be told, there wasn't much," Sidney confessed. "He spent a lot of time in foster homes. He got into some trouble when he was a kid but the details are locked up pretty tight, but since then, he's been pretty clean. Bounced around all over. The one thing that I did learn was that he doesn't like to sit still."

Cora pursed her lips at that. "Well, that appears to have changed."

Sidney laughed nervously. "His most recent address was in Massachusetts, and before then, Arizona. I'm wondering how he wound up here in Maine."

"So, if I'm understanding you correctly," Cora interjected, tired of hearing the man carry on, "you found nothing of value, which means _you_ have no value Sidney. Do you know what I do with things that have no value to me? I throw them away."

A shiver shot down Sidney's spine as he cleared his throat and quickly said, "I'll keep looking," before making a fast exit.

Cora simply rolled her eyes and went back to her tree.

* * *

"Here you go," Ruby said as she placed a steaming mug of hot cocoa in front of Henry.

Henry looked at her, confused. He hadn't ordered a mug of cocoa, though he was definitely surprised to see it fixed just the way he preferred it. A healthy coating of whipped cream and some cinnamon sprinkled throughout.

"Uh thanks, Ruby, but I didn't order that," he told his godmother. He still found it a little funny that the woman's name had been changed to Ruby when it was really Red. He supposed an Evil Queen could only be _so_ creative. Maybe names weren't Cora's forte. Then again, maybe Cora hadn't had any control over it at all.

"I know," Ruby told him with a grin. "You have an admirer."

Henry spun his barstool around to observe the diner, and the first person he saw was none other than Deputy Graham Mills, the man who was currently married to his mother. Henry sighed as he grabbed his cocoa and made his way over to the booth where the Deputy was seated.

He couldn't quite figure out how he felt about the man, though he knew it was somewhere between wanting to punch the guy in the face and wanting to hang out with him—maybe have some beers and some bro time. It wasn't like Henry had ever had many friends.

Still, this guy was married to his mom—AGAINST his mother's will. He was no doubt sleeping with her, and that made Henry's skin crawl. That was why he wanted to punch the guy in the face.

On the other hand, it wasn't like it was _really _Graham's fault. He had technically been married to Regina against his will as well, so could Henry really blame him?

Either way, it wasn't a cool situation.

"Ah, so you decided to stay," Graham said with a smile as Henry approached him.

"Observant," Henry deadpanned. "That's important for a cop."

"Good news for our tourist business," Graham continued, "but bad for our local signage."

Henry simply stared at the man until the Deputy scratched at his neck and muttered out, "It's a joke, because you ran over our sign."

"Look," Henry drawled, "the cocoa was a nice gesture, and I _am_ impressed that you guessed that I like cinnamon in my chocolate, 'cause most people don't, but if this is a bribe to get me to leave town, then thanks, but no thanks."

Graham's brows furrowed as looked at the mug in Henry's hands. He then shrugged at the guy and said, "I didn't send it."

"I did."

Henry's head snapped up at the voice, and a smile instantly broke across his face as he saw Emma standing across from him with a blush sweeping over her cheeks. "I like cinnamon, too," she confessed with an awkward grin.

Henry cursed himself as his eyes stung fiercely upon hearing his mother's admission to liking cinnamon in her cocoa just like he did.

_Seriously?! _He thought, lecturing himself. _It's just fucking cocoa! Get it together._

He shook his head as he took a few steps toward his mother. _All these sappy family reunion feelings are gonna cost me my damn man card._

He cleared his throat as he reached the place where Emma was standing, waiting for him. "Wow, two cops in one day," he said with a laugh.

"Heh, yeah," she chuckled, rolling her eyes at him. "Come on. Walk with me."

* * *

"Listen, I want to help you out," Emma told Henry as they strolled through the town, "because weirdly enough, I kinda like you."

Henry scrunched his nose, and Emma quickly reacted. "Chill," she said. "I just mean that, in some strange way, you remind me a bit of myself."

Henry grinned at that. "Okay…so, how do you intend to help me?"

"I can help you get your foot in the door," Emma told him. "You know, actually establish a place in the community…I mean, if you really do plan on staying for a while."

Henry tried not to stare too much, but he kept catching himself looking at her, glancing to his right every few seconds. He couldn't help himself. It was the weirdest, and yet most incredible thing in the world to have his mom with him again—and completely unchanged. It was fucking unreal.

"Yeah," he finally told her. "Yeah, I think I'd like to stay."

"Good," she said with a smile as she sipped at her own cocoa. "So then, Step One: Identification. Let's call it Operation Cobra."

"Cobra?" Henry asked, laughing. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Exactly," Emma said with a sly smile. "It's a code name, man. It's supposed to throw people off."

Henry quirked a brow at her then. "People? Like who?"

"Like Regina," Emma answered easily and Henry's stomach sank with disappointment, "or better yet, like the Evil Queen herself, the woman's mother."

Henry's head shot up at that as he choked on his own saliva. "Evil Queen?" he rasped out.

"Well, yeah, the lady is a tyrant," his mother told him. "Everybody in town knows it, but no one ever says it out loud, except me, I guess. Almost makes me feel bad for the Mayor."

Henry's heart clenched tightly in his chest. "Yeah," he mumbled. "She seems unhappy."

"She's definitely something," Emma said with a nod, and Henry couldn't help but notice the distant look in his mother's eyes as she stared straight ahead. There was definitely something there, something Emma wasn't telling him, and he would absolutely have to find out.

"So," he said, shaking the woman back to reality, "an Evil Queen, huh? Does that mean that there's a Snow White somewhere in this town?"

Emma laughed loudly at that. "Well, if there is, it certainly isn't me."

"Maybe your Mom," Henry offered with a knowing smile. "She seems like a real Snow-White type—sweet, kind, and she apparently likes birds."

The Sheriff only laughed harder at that. "Oh god. That's great," she chuckled. "I love it. She will get a kick out of that."

When their laughter died down, Henry steered the conversation back to its original topic. "Right, okay. So…Evil Queen. Operation Cobra. I'm on board."

"Oh yeah," Emma said, remembering her original point. "We've just gotta get you a stronger place in the community. The stronger your presence, the more reason you've got to be here, which you'll need in order to defend yourself when Madam Mayor or her lovely mother comes knocking."

"She already did," Henry told her, holding up the apple he had brought from the hotel room. He then tossed it over his shoulder and let it roll away on the ground behind them.

"Well, shit," Emma laughed. "You don't have to take it out on the fruit."

"Trust me, it wasn't a good apple," Henry told her with a laugh. His face then turned serious as he looked at his mother and quietly asked, "Why do you want to help me? Shouldn't you be suspicious of me like everyone else? Why do you even want me to stay?"

Emma sighed as she searched for something to say, but could think of nothing. So, she just shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she confessed. "I just can't help but feel like I should."

* * *

Later that afternoon, Henry was walking toward the B&B when he caught a glimpse of his own face, which had him backtracking. He stopped in front of the small machine that held the town newspapers and sighed as he stared at a picture of his own face and a headline shaming him for the wrecking the lame town sign.

"Seriously?" he drawled as he stared at the paper.

"You stayed."

Henry turned to see Mary Margaret walking toward him. She was clad in a light blue cardigan over a white button-up shirt and long pale blue skirt. She pushed her hair out of her face as she approached with a sweet smile.

The petite woman didn't know why she felt so pleased by the idea of him sticking around, but she did. There was something about this Henry fellow that struck her, something that made her want to trust him despite having only just met him.

"Yeah," Henry said. "Guess I kind of like it here."

His grandmother's smile only grew in that moment but then it quickly faded as she quietly asked, "Does the Mayor know you're still here?"

"Oh yeah," Henry laughed. "She knows. What's her deal? She's not a great people person, huh? How did she get elected?"

He needed to find out as much as he could about his mother, about _both _of his mothers. He didn't have a single clue how to break the curse, but whatever it was he had to do, Henry was certain it had something to do with this mothers.

Mary Margaret shrugged in answer. "She's been Mayor as long as I can remember. No one's ever been brave enough to run against her. She inspires quite a bit of fear. I'm sure you've noticed."

Henry just laughed as he nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. "I can see that, yeah."

"I wouldn't judge her too harshly, though," she added quickly. "Her mother…"

"Ah yeah," Henry said with a laugh. "The Evil Queen."

"The Evil Queen?" Mary Margaret reiterated. "Have you been reading that book I gave you or have you simply been spending time with my daughter?"

"Both?"

"Well, if you start correlating fairytale characters to the townspeople, I hope you won't make me some old hag or an evil witch," she chuckled.

"Of course not," Henry told her with a smile. "Emma and I already decided."

"Oh? And who do you think I am?"

Henry just grinned, laughing internally as he said, "Snow White."


	4. Chapter 4: The Thing You Love Most, Pt 2

**A/N: For those asking about Charming, you will find out about him in the next two chapters, based on episode three: "Snow Falls."**

**And one more time, I want to reiterate: Not everything will be a perfect parallel of canon, and not EVERYTHING that happened to Snowing in canon will happen to SwanQueen, etc. **

**Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I'm so happy you're all enjoying the story so far. I hope you like this chapter. XO-Chrmdpoet**

Chapter Four: The Thing You Love Most, Pt. 2

"I've had him arrested, pointlessly," Regina growled out as she marched into her office, where she found her mother rifling through a stack of papers, as usual. The woman had her hands in everything.

Regina bypassed her desk and went directly for the small bar to the right of it. She poured herself a tumbler of cider and downed it in one easy gulp. "I hope you are happy."

"Oh _do_ climb down from your high horse, Regina, dear," Cora drawled as she waved off her daughter's obvious frustration. "For all we know, he could be a con-man. He could be trying to learn about us in order to take advantage of us. Perhaps that is why he is sticking around. Did you ever think of that? There are many kind people in this town, dear; easily made victim to the right persuasions."

"Oh, yes, Mother," Regina snapped sarcastically. "Anyone _not _from Storybrooke _must _be a criminal. Is that right or have you actually made a point with some logic to it that I just happened to miss?"

Cora's temper flared, her teeth clenching to the point of pain, and she had to fight the urge to smack the sarcasm right out of Regina's mouth. Instead, she bit her tongue and decided to go the route of the understanding mother.

Besides, it was the only tactic of manipulation that ever seemed to work on Regina. Brute force only made her bitter. Magic was even worse, though Cora had no magic to utilize even if she wished to.

That was the curse of this world, and Cora often found it grated at her nerves. Still, she was an intelligent woman. She had ways of getting what she wanted—power, money, threatening—and if none of her usual tactics worked; well, Cora quite loved a challenge.

"I know you don't like to get your hands sticky, Regina," Cora said gently, "but a Mayor must do what a Mayor must do. I'm sorry."

"No you're not," Regina bit out. She had absolutely no doubt that her mother was anything but sorry, and Regina would not be manipulated like a child. She knew well the power her mother possessed. Cora could turn the town against her or pull her position as Mayor out from under her in a heartbeat, and thus, Regina knew better than to openly defy her mother; however, behind closed doors, Regina would not pretend the woman was anything other than what she truly was.

Heartless; more-so than Regina was even aware.

"I know you think otherwise, but all I'm doing is trying to protect you," Cora cooed. "This is best. You'll see. Things will return to normal once the stranger is gone."

* * *

Henry rolled his eyes as he held up his arrest placard while the bright flash of the camera went off. "Listen, man, whoever said I defaced that damn thing is lying. You know that, right?"

Deputy Mills waved his hand to the right. "To the right, please." When Henry turned to his right so that his mug shot could be taken from that angle as well, Graham asked, "Why would she lie?"

"_She?" _Henry exclaimed, his eyebrows inching toward his hairline._ "_Who was it, my m—the Mayor?"

Would his mother seriously set him up like this? _Well, of fucking course she would, _Henry told himself. _She doesn't even know she's my mother! _

"No, was it Cora?" he asked, because that seemed much more likely anyway. "Or maybe they got somebody to do it for them. It's obvious everyone is terrified of them."

Graham frowned at him. "Okay, first of all, that is my _wife_ you're talking about," he said with a laugh, and Henry bristled. _God, don't remind me_, he thought. "Secondly, Regina may be a touch intimidating, and Cora isn't the sweetest cookie in the bag, but I don't think either of them would go as far as a frame job."

Just as Henry was about to respond, the shuffling of footsteps sounded from the hallway. Seconds later, the Sheriff entered the main room, followed by a meek-looking Mary Margaret.

"Hey," Emma huffed out.

"Hey," Graham said a little nervously. "I thought you headed home for the day?"

Emma locked gazes with her Deputy, the disappointment in her eyes clear. She shook her head just slightly as she answered him. "Yeah, well, I heard what happened."

"I'm innocent," Henry suddenly chimed in, looking at his mother with pleading eyes. "I was near that newspaper machine last night, but I didn't deface the thing. Why would someone even do that?"

Emma shook her head again as she lowered her voice and said, "I think you're kind of screwing up Operation Cobra. Don't you?"

"Sorry?" Graham cut in, his brows furrowed. "I'm a bit lost."

"It's need to know, Deputy," Emma told him matter-of-factly, "and all you need to know is that my mom is gonna bail the guy out."

Mary Margaret stepped forward then, pulling her checkbook from her purse as she offered Henry a shy smile.

Henry looked at her, stunned. "You are?" he asked, his voice reverent. "Why?"

Emma grinned as Mary Margaret told him, "I…uh, trust you."

She and Henry shared a soft smile, and Henry would've given anything in that moment to have her know that they were family just so that he could wrap his grandmother up in a tight embrace and it not seem weird. In fact, Henry had only been in Storybrooke a few days, and already, he hated it; not because he was desperate to leave, but because he couldn't just shout the truth from the rooftops.

He couldn't hug his mothers, his grandmother. They didn't know him. They didn't love him; at least, this version of them didn't.

He somehow felt even more alone now, when surrounded by his family who didn't know him, than he did when he had truly been alone.

Henry nodded in gratitude before cutting his gaze to Deputy Mills and biting out a harsh, "Well, if you could un-cuff me, I have something to do."

* * *

The roaring, grating sound of the chainsaw whirring to life caught Cora's attention, but it was the grinding sound of its chained blade digging into her beloved apple tree that sent her into a frenzy of rage.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cora screeched as she shot across the yard.

Henry grinned as the lower limb of the honeycrisp tree cracked from the trunk and fell to the ground, sending apples in every direction. He threw the chainsaw to the ground before turning to smirk at his horrid grandmother. "Eh, picking apples," he told her with a shrug.

Cora snarled as she stepped right into Henry's personal space, her lip curling as her eyes went cold and deadly. "You're out of your mind."

"No, _you_ are if you think a shoddy frame job is going to scare me off," Henry countered angrily. "You're gonna have to do better than that."

Henry took a step closer to her, using his height advantage to bear down on the woman. He lowered his voice to near whisper when he spoke again. "You come after me one more time," he told her, "and I'm coming back for the rest of this tree, because lady, you have _no_ idea what I'm capable of."

They stared each other down for another heated moment, their fury nearly tangible in their air around them, before Henry turned and walked away, calling out to her over his shoulder.

"Your move."

* * *

"_I had hoped these seven long years may have persuaded you to change your mind," Henry said quietly as he followed his wife through her chambers. "I had hoped you would have taken the time to heed Maleficent's warning. This curse could destroy you, leave a void inside you as she said."_

_Cora quirked an eyebrow at her husband. "You're trying to protect me?"_

"_It's what I do," he answered simply, the words coming out in a long, tired sigh._

_Cora nodded as she took a step closer to him. "I know," she agreed quietly. "You're the only one who does."_

"_Helping you is my life."_

_Cora cut her gaze away from him as she quietly said, "I'm glad to hear it, because I am afraid I need your help now, Henry, and it will truly cost you your life."_

_She detected a slight tremor in his voice as he asked, "What?"_

_Cora sucked in a sharp breath before locking eyes with him and admitting, "The final ingredient for the curse's recipe is a prized heart."_

_Henry pointed toward the fireplace, behind which was Cora's hidden vault. "You have many."_

"_No, you misunderstand," Cora told him, shaking her head. "It must be a prized heart, a _dear_ heart."_

_Henry's eyes watered as he disbelievingly whispered, "Me?"_

"_Yes, Henry."_

_He shook his head in denial. "My dear, please," he begged her, "you don't have to do this."_

"_But I must!" Cora argued as she began to pace her chambers. "I have spent seven years preparing this recipe, and as you know, it has not been easy. I soaked a witch's brain in the putrid sap of a gods-damned swamp Spriggan for 342 days, Henry! And that was merely _one _of the repugnant ingredients required. I _must_ do this in order to cast the curse, because I'll be damned before I fail to see this through."_

"_Move past this without magic," Henry pleaded. "I know this may sound self-serving, but you don't need to enact the curse."_

_Cora whirled on him then as she shouted, "But I can't keep living like this! It's eating me alive. Regina's happiness mocks me every second. She must be punished."_

_Henry shook his head, the mention of their daughter tugging at the most pained parts of his heart. "But if the price is a hole that will never be filled, then why do it?" he asked her softly. "Stop worrying about Regina." He choked on the name, having left it unspoken since he disgraced himself by letting his wife push her away years prior. "She is living her own life, apart from us now. She wishes nothing from us, so why obsess over her? We can have a new life." _

"_What kind of life?" Cora asked him. "All I've worked for, all I've built will be gone. My power will disappear. They already think I'm nothing—Regina and her pathetic excuse for a lover. The people of this kingdom, of this realm. This will prove them wrong—all of them."_

_Henry stepped toward his wife then, reaching for her hands. When she allowed him to take them, he rubbed his thumbs over the back of her hands as he gently told her, "Power is seductive, but so is love. We can have that again."_

_Cora huffed out a breath as Henry cautiously pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back. She laid her head on his shoulder as he continued to whisper in her ear. "I believe, given a chance, that we can find happiness together," he told her, "but the choice is yours."_

_Cora's hand inched up her husband's chest as she let those words sink in, but it was with little hesitation that she sucked in a heavy breath and whispered, "I think you're right, Henry."_

"_I _can_ be happy, just not with you."_

_And then she plunged her hand into his chest._

* * *

_The wind whipped around the Evil Queen as she stood in a quiet stone quarry. Her hands trembled as she stepped toward the sparking, stewing brew she had created using careful portions of each ingredient, her husband's heart motionless in her palms. _

_The skin of her face prickled in the wind, though her body was thoroughly protected by the heavy feathered cloak she had donned for her final hours in the realm. She pulled the cloak more tightly around her as she crushed Henry's heart in her hand, let the dust sprinkle into the brew, and watched as it began to hiss and boil._

_Cora screamed her frustration into the air, though, as the billowing black, green, and purple smoke rose several feet into the air only to dissipate and die._

_The curse had failed._

* * *

_Rats scurried across the damp stone floor of the freezing dungeon. Golden eyes tracked their every move, a gentle giggle escaping through bronzed teeth._

"_It's just us, dearie," Rumplestiltskin called gleefully as he crept toward the jagged iron bars of his prison cell and pressed his face between them. "You can show yourself."_

_Purple smoke curled around one of the rats and Rumple giggled as he watched the rat slowly begin to grow, morphing into the form of a woman. Within seconds, Cora stood before him, clad in her usual dramatic black._

_She cracked her neck to both sides, the sound echoing in the stony dungeon, before turning cold eyes to the Dark One. "That curse you gave me," she hissed. "It's not working."_

"_Oh, so worried," Rumple sing-songed. "So, so worried. Like Regina and her lovely new wife."_

"_What?" Cora snapped, her eyes narrowing at the imp._

_Rumple smiled wickedly as he said, "Oh yes. They paid me a visit as well. They were very anxious about you…and the curse."_

_Panic coursed through Cora's body. "What did you tell them?"_

"_The truth," Rumple answered simply before throwing his hands dramatically into the air and roaring, "that nothing can stop the darkness!" His eyes then glittered as he lowered his voice and whispered. "Except, of course, their unborn child." _

_Cora's eyes widened then, and Rumple found it wildly entertaining. He pushed his face further through the bars, trying to get as close as possible as he taunted her. "You see, no matter how powerful, all curses can be broken," he whispered. "Their child is the key." He then rolled his eyes and said, "Of course, the curse has to be enacted first."_

"_Tell me what I did wrong," Cora growled out at him, fed up with his constant taunting._

_Rumple waggled his finger and clucked his tongue. "Ah, ah. For that, there's a price."_

_Cora had already seen that one coming, so she simply nodded and asked, "What do you want?"_

"_Simple!" the Dark One exclaimed with a flourishing flick of his wrists. "In this new land, I want comfort. I want a good life."_

"_Fine, you'll have an estate," Cora told him quickly, eager for the answers she needed, "be rich."_

"_I wasn't finished," Rumplestiltskin growled at her. "There's more."_

"_There always is with you."_

"_In this new land," he began again, "should I ever come to you for any reason, you must heed my every request. You must do whatever I say so long as I say…PLEASE!"_

_He broke into a wild bout of laughter as he hopped up and down behind the bars before climbing as far up them as possible, tickled with himself._

"_You do realize that should I succeed, you won't remember any of this?" Cora deadpanned, bored of the man's antics._

_Rumple continued to giggle as he asked, "Oh, well then what's the harm?"_

_Cora waved a hand dismissively. "Deal." She then leaned closer to the bars as she asked, "What must I do to enact this curse?"_

"_You need to sacrifice a heart."_

"_I did," Cora hissed. She then lowered her voice until it was barely audible. "Henry."_

"_Your husband?" Rumplestiltskin asked, his face showing his disbelief and disgust. "That slaving oaf?" He shot a scaly hand through the bars and latched onto the front of Cora's cloak, jerking her toward the cell until their noses were nearly brushing. His hand slithered up her chest and neck until he could cup it firmly around her jaw. _

"_The curse to end all curses, and you think sacrificing some slave of a man you never truly loved is going to do?" he growled against her lips as he pressed their noses together, his golden eyes boring into the deep chocolate of Cora's. "Great power requires great sacrifice," he told her. "The heart you need must come from something far more precious."_

_Cora swallowed thickly though her gaze never wavered. "Tell me what will suffice."_

"_The heart of the thing you love most," he hissed as he released her jaw and slinked away from her. His high-pitched voice curled around the words with a chilling air of drama. Cora could tell he was enjoying every moment of this._

_She shook her head as she clung to the bars and argued with him. "But there is nothing."_

"_Oh, let's don't lie to one another, dearie," Rumple sang as he waggled his finger at her again. "You know what you need to do, so please stop wasting everyone's time and just do it."_

_His eyes tore into her soul as he then voiced the words she could not bring herself to say. "We both know, Cora," Rumple said, the words quiet and cold, "that the thing you love most…is _you_."_

_Cora shook her head slowly back and forth, and her voice trembled as she whispered, "To sacrifice my own heart would be my death."_

"_Not if your heart is enchanted," Rumple exclaimed, bobbling his head gleefully. "And it has been ever since you pulled it from your ample bosom and hid it away in its tiny box."_

"_But what will become of it?" she asked him. "What will become of me?"_

_Rumple crept close to the bars again, his scaly fingers curling around them. "Your life will be tied to the curse," he told her. "Should it break, you will die."_

_He watched as a flicker of fear flashed through Cora's eyes. "This curse isn't going to be easy," he hissed. "Vengeance never is, dearie. So, you have to ask yourself a simple question." He pressed his face through the bars once more as he coldly asked, "How far are you willing to go?"_

_Cora inhaled deeply, and that fear in her eyes slowly leaked away as her face hardened with resolve. She locked eyes with the Dark One as her lips curled into a smile and she vowed, "As far as it takes."_

* * *

Henry slipped the large, ancient-looking key into the lock of his room at Granny's, and pushed the door open. Just as he was about to step into his room, though, Granny's voice stopped him.

"Mr. White," the elder woman called, and Henry spun around to greet her. He smiled and waved, but the smile quickly fell from his lips as Granny's brows furrowed and she frowned at him. "Oh my, this is terribly awkward," she said nervously. "I need to ask you to leave. I'm afraid we have a no-felons rule. It turns out we have a city ordinance."

Henry huffed out a sigh as he rolled his eyes and said, "Let me guess. The Mayor's office just called to remind you."

Granny shrugged apologetically. "You can gather your things, but I need to have your room key back."

Henry tossed the key back to her before marching into his room to gather the few things he had with him. This was getting ridiculous.

* * *

Emma made her way across the lawn behind Town Hall, where she could see the Mayor on all fours on the ground, gathering apples from a mangled, fallen tree limb. The Sheriff did her best to keep her eyes fixed straight ahead, though she could hardly help the way her gaze seemed to dip down every few steps and hover over the Mayor's backside.

No matter how much disdain existed between them, Emma had always felt a certain draw to the Mayor. Of course, that draw almost always pulled them together in an argument or fight; regardless, though, it was there, and neither really knew what to make of it.

They almost always ended up in each other's faces, sharing the same air, grinding their teeth to the same annoyed rhythm. They clashed over and over, and though neither acknowledged this aloud, it seemed they could not keep from sprinting almost eagerly toward each collision.

Emma cleared her throat as she came to stand behind the Mayor, who simply glanced over her shoulder and rolled her eyes.

"He destroyed Mother's tree," Regina drawled, "or as she refers to it, 'city property.' She wants him arrested."

"Again?" Emma huffed.

Regina whirled around then, quirking an eyebrow as she looked up at the Sheriff. "Yes, again," she said sharply. "What are you waiting for?"

Emma threw her hands up as she exasperatedly told her, "I'm just not convinced that arresting him is the right plan, Regina, and I'm not talking about your mother's tree." She then glanced around the area and up toward the windows of Town Hall. When she saw no one, she lowered her voice and said, "We both know he didn't deface the newspaper stand."

Regina rose slowly to her feet and stepped much closer to the Sheriff than was necessary as she hissed, "Oh, do we?"

"He looked pretty shocked when I leveled the charges against him," Emma told her confidently, not even bothering to back up. Instead, she took a step closer to the Mayor.

Regina's eyes darted involuntarily down the Sheriff's body before shooting back up to lock onto emerald eyes. "That's because he doesn't like being caught, Sheriff Swan," she explained as she arched her brow higher and inhaled deeply.

Emma chuckled coldly as she argued, "_Or_ because he was set up." She leaned in toward Regina's ear and inhaled the scent of the woman's hair. It was intoxicating in the best and worst way. The Mayor was undeniably attractive, and Emma was undoubtedly drawn to her, but there were feelings she couldn't explain that always pushed her away—a ripe dislike that had bubbled between them for as long as either could remember.

"And if he was," she whispered in Regina's ear, "then that means that _you_ were lying when you reported it, and if you were lying, then _that_ means that someone asked you to, and we both know who that someone is."

When Emma leaned back, Regina's chocolate eyes had turned nearly black. They stared at each other for a long moment, neither wanting to back down, but when Emma lifted a brow at the Mayor, Regina let out a long sigh.

"Christ, Regina!" Emma exclaimed, taking the sigh as a show of admission. "What, did she get Sidney to destroy the stand? Or did _you _do it? How does your conscience not eventually get the best of you?"

Regina's anger flared, hot and bright, and she ground out her reply through clenched teeth. "I think your little school-girl crush on this stranger is clouding your judgment."

"Oh ple—" Emma began, but the Mayor quickly cut her off.

"Remember, _I _made you Sheriff," Regina growled, "and I can take it away just as easily."

Emma bit her tongue to keep from lashing out as her cheeks turned red with her anger. "You want him arrested again?" she asked. "_Fine_. Get your lapdog of a husband to do it for you again. But you know this guy is just going to keep coming at you and your mother, and I know you, Regina."

They unconsciously moved closer to one another until there was hardly any space left between their heaving chests, both women nearly panting with their fury. "Even if _you_ don't want to fight back, _she_ does. She _will_. She will keep coming at him, and she'll use _you_ to do it. She'll do whatever it takes to get him out of here, until she succeeds."

Regina took a step back as her eyes stung with tears she refused to let fall. She was so angry, though, that she was barely keeping it together. The Sheriff was absolutely right, though of course, she wasn't about to admit that much out loud.

"She's my _mother_," Regina forced out quietly. "She's only trying to do what's best for everyone, for the town."

Emma's anger began to dissipate as she heard the tiniest hint of a tremor in the Mayor's voice. Understanding filled her eyes as she started to reach out a hand but then quickly jerked it back and said, "I know that's what you believe, okay? But if this escalates, it seems to me that the only people who are going to be _really_ hurt are Henry, and_ you_. He'll be driven away by her cruelty, and you will take the blame."

Emma shook her head as she turned to leave, but she only took a few steps before she turned back and quietly added, "What's worse, Regina, is that you will have to live with whatever you do to help her."

Regina watched her go then, a strange sensation tugging at her heart and swirling in her stomach.

* * *

Henry threw up his arms and cursed under his breath as he crossed the street to see that a boot had been placed on the tire of his Volkswagen.

"You have got to be freaking kidding me," he muttered.

When his cell phone began to ring, Henry pulled it from his pocket and had barely pressed to answer the call when his mother's voice echoed into his ear.

"_Mr. White," _Regina said,_ "I'd be happy to continue demonstrating my power, but am I right in guessing your resolve to stay is only growing?"_

Henry closed his eyes as he fought to remind himself that this woman was his mother and that she was only a helpless pawn in his evil grandmother's twisted game. Still, he could hardly keep the growl from his voice as he told her, "You have no idea."

"_Well then, I think it's time we made peace," _Regina responded._ "Why don't you drive over to my office?" _

Henry slammed the door of his car after grabbing his jacket from the backseat, and his mother must have heard it, because she then added, "_Or walk. Whatever suits you."_

Henry grunted his agreement before hanging up. He had half a mind to march over to his mother's office and spill his whole crazy, true story in the hopes that she might actually, somehow, believe him and stop being such a super bitch.

Then again, she would most likely just use the story as an excuse to lock him away in a crazy home or something.

Henry sighed as he shook his head and muttered, "Yeah, better not," before turning around and heading toward Town Hall on foot.

* * *

"I'd like to start by apologizing, Mr. White."

Henry raised his eyebrows disbelievingly at his mother, who sat across from him in a sleek armchair. "What?" he deadpanned. "Seriously?"

"I just have to accept the reality that you want to be here," she said simply.

"That's right." Henry nodded as he leaned back into the couch. "I do."

"And that you will more than likely take advantage of the kindness of the townspeople," Regina added, and Henry instantly rolled his eyes.

How hard was she going to make this for him?

"Okay, let's get one thing straight," he told her. "I'm not here to take advantage of anyone. People are kind, yeah, but accepting that kindness doesn't make me some kind of con-man. Christ."

"Well, then what are you doing here?" Regina asked, as if there couldn't be any other reason.

"Um, maybe I just like it here," Henry answered, shrugging his shoulders. "What is the big damn deal with that? Don't you _want _people to enjoy this place? I mean, that is part of your job as the Mayor, right? To make this town desirable, so that people want to stay, so that people are happy here?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"So, then why can I not be one of those people? Look, I don't know what your issue with me is, but I think it's crap. In fact, I don't even think this little 'issue' is coming from you at all," he said boldly.

Henry's nerves were on fire as he knew he was toeing a fine line. He had to be careful with how he interacted with everyone, especially in a place like this. He wouldn't be surprised if his grandmother was lurking somewhere nearby, listening.

He didn't want to do anything to set her off, to possibly endanger himself or his mothers.

Regina avoided his gaze as she asked, "Meaning?"

"_Meaning_—I think you don't mind my being here," he told her. "In fact, I think you kind of like me. We connected the night we met."

Regina's eyes narrowed as she watched this stranger who somehow seemed so familiar to her. He was right that they had connected the night they met. There had been something about him, something that made her inexplicably feel as if she knew him somehow.

However, she had an objective to fulfill and there were certain ears open and listening, so she merely arched a brow at him and innocently said, "Mr. White, I am afraid I don't know what you mean."

"Yes you do," Henry argued. "I know you felt drawn to me when we met, and then when you brought me the apples. There was a moment, wasn't there? Something happened."

"What the hell is going on here?"

Henry whipped around to see Deputy Mills standing in the open doorway of Regina's office. His eyes narrowed angrily, and Henry instantly knew that Graham had misinterpreted what he had overhead.

"Shit," Henry muttered, but before he could try to explain, Graham was gone, angrily marching out of the building.

Henry whipped back around, feeling guilty, but then he saw the smug smile on his mother's face and his stomach sank. "How long was he there?"

"Long enough," Regina answered.

"You knew he would be here," Henry whispered, his voice edged with a hurt disbelief.

"Did I know that my husband comes to my office every Thursday at precisely 7 PM so that we can go to dinner together before his weekly 'guy's night' at The Rabbit Hole?" Regina asked, that smugness never leaving her face. "Of course I did. I'm his wife."

Henry turned away from her, unable to look at her a moment longer. This was going to cause him some serious problems unless he could explain himself to the Deputy. He didn't want any trouble; at least, not anymore than he already had.

When Henry turned toward the door, he came face to face with Cora. She stood in the hallway, wearing the same smug expression as Regina, only Cora's somehow managed to seem much more menacing.

"How did you know?" he asked her. "You couldn't have known that I would say any of that stuff."

"Intuition," Cora hissed happily. She then said something she knew to be entirely untrue; however, she had reason to be cautious. She knew exactly who Henry White was, but she had yet to discover whether or not _he _knew who he was. So, she covered her tracks by saying, "I've seen the way you look at my daughter. Men are terribly predictable, I'm afraid."

Henry's stomach churned at the words, but instead of defending himself or explaining, he just cursed under his breath and pushed by Cora, eager to get the hell away from her and sadly, from his mother as well.

As he skirted past Cora, she chuckled and hissed, "Your move."

That stopped him up short. He whirled on her and leveled her with a vicious glare.

"You have _no _soul," he told her. "How in the hell did you get like this?"

* * *

_Cora walked silently through the corridors of her castle as the face of the genie hopped from reflective surface to reflective surface on the walls—mirrors, armor, weaponry, vases, and the like. He hurled question after question as she made her way toward her chambers, but Cora remained silent._

"_What happened? Did you get your answer? What's going on? Your Majesty? Your Majesty?!"_

_When Cora finally reached her chambers, the genie appeared in his primary mirror and calmly asked, "Did Rumplestiltskin tell you what you needed to know?"_

_Cora nodded, though her eyes were distant. "Yes," she whispered._

"_And?"_

"_I'm not sure I should say," she answered quickly. Her brows furrowed as she began to pace. "I'm conflicted."_

"_How bad is it?" the genie asked._

_Cora said nothing for several long moments before she finally let out a slow, hissing breath and confessed, "I have to sacrifice the heart of the thing I love most."_

_The genie's eyes widened. "You mean…?"_

"_What?!" Cora snapped at him. "What do you think I mean?"_

"_Well, you know I cannot tell a lie, Your Majesty," the genie mumbled._

_Cora propped her hands on her hips as she quirked a brow at him. "And?"_

_The genie lowered his voice to a near whisper as he quickly muttered, "And the thing you love most is yourself."_

_Cora sneered at him as she said, "Well, points for the genie for figuring it out."_

"_But how can you sacrifice your own heart?"_

_Cora turned toward the fireplace and stared into the flickering flames that leapt behind the grate. "The same way I tore it out," she told him. "With ripe determination."_

* * *

Mary Margaret's head popped up from behind a book as she heard a knock on her door. She made her way quickly across the room and pulled the door open to reveal the tall, dark-headed stranger she had kindly bailed out of jail earlier that day.

Henry waved awkwardly as he stood in the doorway with his hands tucked in the back pockets of his jeans and a lopsided smile on his face, unable to manage a full-blown grin. "Hey," he said a little shyly. "Just wanted to say thank you, and um, pay you back the bail money."

He pulled a small envelope from his jacket pocket and held it out to her. Mary Margaret took it with an appreciative nod. She noticed his poor excuse for a smile and before she could stop herself, she said, "You look like you need to talk."

Henry started to say he would be fine and leave his grandmother to her day, but at the same time, he really craved the company.

He nodded, and she welcomed him into her home without a second thought.

When Mary Margaret set a cup of cocoa down for him, Henry noticed that she had added cinnamon. He looked up at her as he asked, "Cinnamon?"

"Oh," she said quickly, frowning a bit. "I'm sorry. I should've asked. It's a little quirk of mine."

"No, not at all." Henry shook his head and smiled at her. "It's a quirk of mine as well. Thank you."

They sat together in a strangely comfortable silence for several long moments before Henry asked the question that had been eating at him since earlier that day. "When you bailed me out, you said that you trusted me. Why?"

"It's strange," came the quiet reply. "Ever since you arrived, since I met you, I've had the strangest feeling that I know you somehow. I know it's crazy."

Henry could hardly contain his grin as he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Maybe I'm starting to reevaluate my definition of crazy."

Mary Margaret smiled around the rim of her cocoa mug. "For whatever it's worth, I think you're innocent."

"Of defacing public property or just in general?" Henry asked, laughing.

"Whichever makes you feel better."

They laughed together, and when the sound faded, Henry quietly said, "I guess it doesn't really matter what anyone thinks I did or didn't do." His eyes were downcast as he scratched at his goatee and tried to hide the worry that had etched its way into his face. "What if I stay, and things just get worse?"

"What happens if you go?" she gently asked. "Do things get better?"

He looked up at her then, and when he did, Mary Margaret reached across the table and laid her hand on top of his. "I think the very fact that you have the tiniest desire to leave is the reason you have to stay. I think you owe it to yourself to stay and find out what drew you here in the first place."

* * *

Regina made her way out of Granny's Diner after her dinner with Graham. He had already gone to meet up with a few of his friends at The Rabbit Hole, and she had only just left, having stayed to wait for a few to-go containers for the leftover food Graham wanted to take home. Her head was ducked down against the slight wind as she crossed the street to where her Mercedes waited.

Just as she reached the car, though, she glanced up and her steps came to grinding halt. Henry was waiting for her, leaning casually against the Mercedes and watching her.

"Mr. White—" she began, hardening her facial features to appear more authoritative.

Henry quickly cut her off, though. He needed her to understand, to realize that he wasn't a threat, so that maybe, if she could, Regina would stop trying to push him away; even if it was really Cora that was pulling the strings.

He had to get under his mother's skin, leave an impression. He knew only one way to do that—to let her know that he cared about her. It seemed, in this life, so few people truly did. Cora used her as a pawn, and Graham—well, Henry couldn't really be sure, but the few interactions he had seen just seemed so hollow, so loveless. It broke his heart.

"Listen," he said softly, "I know how this is going to sound, and I hope you'll hear me when I say it isn't like that. But there is one simple reason that I stayed here—You. I wanted to get to know you."

Regina's brows furrowed even as her heart clenched at the sincerity in this man's face and voice. She opened her mouth to attempt to speak again, but he quickly cut her off once more.

"I know when we met you felt a connection to me," he told her. "I felt it too. You can tell Cora whatever she needs to hear, but don't lie to my face or to yourself. You don't want to push me away. I know you don't."

"You know nothing about me," Regina argued, though it lacked her usual fire. Her insides were buzzing with the truth in Henry's words, with that connection she had felt to him on that first night.

It was like she knew him somehow, from somewhere. She didn't understand it, and that bothered her beyond words.

"I know it's a lot to ask of you, for you to trust me," he continued, "but I hope you can. I hope you will, because I think I can help you, Regina. I can help you get out from under her thumb."

Regina swallowed thickly, her hand clenching so tightly around her keys that they began to dig into her palm.

Henry's throat felt tight as he could see the internal struggle in his mother's eyes. All he wanted was to help her. All he wanted was to fix things, return her happiness—bring her back to Emma somehow. He was desperate to restore her happiness, both hers and Emma's, to restore their love.

And then, maybe, hopefully…they could be a family again; the way they were meant to be.

"Okay?" he choked out. "I'm here to help you, and nothing is going to stop that."

Without another word and without waiting for her to speak, Henry turned quickly and strode away, tears burning in his eyes.

* * *

_Cora carefully approached the stewing brew, the small ornate box in her hands clutched tightly to her chest. She had only just had enough ingredients left to mix a final batch, and so, this one would have to work._

_If it failed, then she failed. This was her only chance._

_Still, she could hear the rhythm of the pulse inside the box quickening as she neared the murky liquid brew. It was as if her heart could sense the danger that awaited it, the complete transformation._

_Cora was nothing, though, if not determined. _

_She pushed aside her fear. She ignored the screams of caution that roared inside her head, and she slipped open the latch on the box. When she pulled the lid open, she saw her heart for the first time in many years._

_It glowed, its edges just slightly red and purple around the overwhelming black splotches that seemed to devour the organ in its entirety._

_Cora pulled the cold, pulsating organ from the box and before she could talk herself out of it, she carefully slid it into the brew—still whole, still alive._

_Her entire body tingled, a slight burning sensation prickling on her skin. Her muscles clenched as a wave of nausea and slight pain rolled through her body, but then it was gone._

_And suddenly, Cora felt darker, stronger…more powerful than she had ever felt in her life._

_A smile stretched her lips as a daunting, swirling cloud of black, green, and purple began to billow up into the sky; spreading, spreading, spreading._

_Laughter spilled from her lips as the cloud continued to grow. _

_She had succeeded._

* * *

Cora worked at tending to her precious and now maimed honeycrisp tree. Regina had gathered most of the stray apples earlier that day, so Cora busied herself with collected the remaining ones, as well as those still attached to the fallen limb that would begin to die soon.

"What a mess."

She turned at the sound of the voice to see Mr. Gold walking slowly toward her, his cane soundless against the soft grass. Cora smiled and shook her head as she told him, "Not for long."

As she went back to her picking, she asked, "What can I do for you, Mr. Gold?"

"I was just in the neighborhood," he answered as he leaned on his cane and watched the woman work. "Thought I'd pop by. Lovely to see you in such high spirits."

Cora chuckled lightly. "Well, it's been a good day. I just rid the town of an unwanted nuisance."

"Mr. White," he responded, filling in the blanks. "Really?"

"Yes," Cora told him brightly, thoroughly pleased with herself. It had been much easier than she had expected to rid the town of the nuisance that was her unwanted grandson, the young man who was prophesied to be the death of her. For the curse was her life, and were it to be broken, it would mean her end. "I imagine he's halfway to Boston by now."

"Oh, I wouldn't bet on that," Mr. Gold replied with a hint of glee in his voice. It was obvious he enjoyed taunting the woman. "In fact, I just saw him down on Main Street. He seemed to be having a lovely conversation with _your_ daughter. Thick as thieves, they looked."

Cora whirled on him then. "What?!" she snapped, her cells suddenly on fire. Regina was with Henry? This was no good, no good at all.

"Perhaps you should've come to me," Mr. Gold chimed in again. "If Mr. White is a problem you can't fix, I'm all too happy to help, for a price of course."

Cora curled her lip as she glared at him. "I'm not in the business of making deals with you anymore."

She turned her back to him then, hoping he would go away, but of course, he didn't.

"To which deal are you referring?" he asked her, intrigue lacing his voice.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter," Cora snapped. "I will deal with the stranger myself."

"Henry." Mr. Gold hummed the name slowly. "Quite the name, wouldn't you say?"

Cora's eyes widened then and she quickly spun back around. "Did you want him to come to town?" she asked, fear and anger flashing in her eyes as her suspicions began to grow wildly and rapidly. "You wanted all this to happen, didn't you? Him coming here wasn't an accident was it?"

Mr. Gold merely stared at her, his brow arched as he leaned on his cane and seemed to be fighting a smile.

Cora took a step closer to the man, her eyes narrowing. "Do you _know_ something?"

"I have no idea what you're implying," Mr. Gold told her simply.

"I think you do," she countered. "Who is this man? This Henry White."

Mr. Gold licked his lips as they curled into a slight smile. "I would say you think you know exactly who he is," he told her quietly. He then began to stroll away. "I really must be going."

Cora shot over in front of him, though, and blocked his path. "Tell me what you know about him," she demanded.

"I'm not going to answer you dear, so I suggest you excuse me," he said, his voice painted with an edge of authority that required no volume. He then leaned forward and whispered, "_Please_."

Cora gritted her teeth as she involuntarily skirted to the side to let the man pass. He tipped his head to her as he strode by, that smile still quirking at the corners of his mouth, and Cora watched him go, her stomach full of knots that would be sure to prevent her any peace until the Savior was gone.


	5. Chapter 5: Snow Falls, Pt 1

Chapter Five: Snow Falls Pt. 1

_The large wheels of the white carriage crunched against the tiny pebbles of the dirt road, led by the princess's royal horsemen. Long, golden curls tumbled forward from over a petite yet strong shoulder as Princess Emma leaned over to observe the scenery through the carriage window. She sighed happily as she turned to the woman across from her._

"_What do you think of the view, my dear?" she asked, to which her companion merely sighed and continued to stare at her perfectly manicured nails._

"_I've seen better," the other woman told her, and Emma had to bite her tongue to keep from letting out a frustrated sigh or rolling her eyes. _

_Her betrothed was a shallow woman, or so she seemed, though it could not be said that she wasn't beautiful. Her long blonde hair, much like Emma's, was soft and fine and pinned perfectly atop her head, and her pale flesh and bright blue eyes were complemented perfectly by her sparkling blue gown. Still, the moment Katherine opened her mouth, that physical beauty seemed to fade into the background. _

"_This is taking forever," Katherine drawled. "I told you the troll road would have been quicker and far less bumpy."_

_Katherine glanced up to see that Emma was hardly paying attention to her, those emerald eyes fixed on a small leather satchel that Katherine knew nothing of. "Are you even listening to me?" Katherine snapped, offended._

_Emma jolted and turned quickly back to her betrothed. "Yes, of course I am."_

_Before either could say another word, the shouts of the carriage horsemen echoed from outside._

"_WHOA!" they shouted, halting the horses. "Whoa." _

_Katherine grumbled out an annoyed sigh. "Now what?"_

_Emma simply rolled her eyes and climbed out of the carriage, closing the small door behind her. As she made her way to the front of the carriage, she saw the issue—a massive tree trunk blocking the road._

"_Worry not," she called back to the carriage so that her betrothed would know all was well. "Tis but a fallen tree."_

_While Emma and the horsemen of the Royal Guard were preoccupied with the fallen tree, a loud thunk echoed from the top of the carriage, causing Katherine to jump. She glanced up, confused, unsure of what the sound could mean._

_Emma inspected the end of the tree trunk, her brows furrowing as she rubbed her hand over the break._

"_Your Highness?" one of the guards asked, noticing her expression. "What is it?"_

"_These markings," Emma muttered. "This tree didn't fall. It's been cut." She glanced up at the guard with wide eyes as she said, "It's an ambush."_

_Just then, a scream ripped through the air. The carriage door jerked open and a hooded, cloaked thief jumped inside, reaching for the small satchel left behind in Emma's seat._

"_Help me!" Katherine shrieked as she jumped across her seat to get as far away from the cloaked thief as possible. "A thief! Help me!"_

_The thief wasted no time in jumping from the carriage with the small satchel and leaping atop the nearest horse, whose rider had abandoned it to inspect the fallen tree set as a distraction. Emma, though, was hot on the thief's heels, also jumping atop a horse and making quick chase._

"_Hyah!" she shouted as she urged her steed to run faster in pursuit of the thief, aware of what the person had taken—a satchel she was unwilling to part ways with for the contents it contained. _

_Heavy hooves beat the dirt road with a fury as the steeds raced through the forest, and it wasn't long before Emma gained on the cloaked rider. She prepared herself as her horse grew closer and closer, and when she was even with the other rider, Emma leapt from her own steed._

_She dove across the minute space between the two horses, her body colliding with the thief's and causing them both to tumble to the ground. They rolled and rolled, Emma keeping a hold on the thief's cloak, and when they finally came to a stop in the dirt, she reached for the struggling thief's hood, determined to see the face of the person who had dared to steal from a royal._

"_Show your face, you coward!" she spat, but when she managed to successfully rip away the hood of the cloak, her emerald eyes widened, as did the chocolate eyes of the person beneath her. _

_At nearly the same time, they muttered, "You're a…girl."_

_Emma's breath caught in her throat as she looked into those deep brown eyes, and they both smirked, their out-of-breath whispers in perfect sync again as they corrected one another with the same word._

"_Woman," they corrected, almost unconsciously. Emma started to say something else, but before she could, the woman beneath her suddenly grabbed a large rock from the dirt road and thrust it up with a surprising amount of strength. The rock smacked heavily into Emma's face, and she tumbled off of the thief and away, clutching her stinging, throbbing chin._

_A small gash ripped open in the little dimpled area of Emma's chin, and a bit of blood bubbled up. By the time Emma recovered enough to get to her feet, she pressed a hand to her bleeding chin and watched as the thief mounted her stolen horse once more and took off down the road again._

"_You can't hide from me!" Emma yelled out as the woman rode away, and she couldn't help the smile that graced her face for some reason as she watched a head of dark chocolate hair turn, deep brown eyes shining at her from over the thief's shoulder. Tingles rippled down Emma's spine as she saw a smirk form on the thief's supple lips but then the woman's head turned again and looked away. That single expression, though, was seared into Emma's mind like a hot brand. She smiled as she called out one final time. "Wherever you are, I will find you!" _

* * *

"Um, where were we?" her date asked, his blue eyes darting just past Emma, only partially listening to the Sheriff's words. "Something about you wanting fifteen kids?"

"Um, no," Emma drawled. "That isn't even remotely what I said. I was talking about my mom's class. She's a teacher and a volunteer at _your _hospital. She's taking her class to the hospital tomorrow as part of the volunteer outreach program."

"Oh yeah," he said, nodding. "That is a great program."

Emma quirked a brow at the man as he sort of just mumbled his response but kept his eyes fixed behind her. She followed his gaze, and of course, it was planted right on Ruby's ass as she bused tables behind them. Granted, it was a nice ass. Emma had caught herself looking at it a few times, and Ruby certainly made it easy to see, given her choice of shorts that barely extended beyond her ass cheeks, but seriously?

They were supposed to be on a date; a lame date, granted, but a date nonetheless.

"_Really, Whale?" _Emma snapped at him, and he jolted in his seat.

"Uh, what?" he asked her, his eyes wide at having possibly been caught.

Emma just shook her head and sighed as she called out to the waitress. "Ruby?"

Ruby stopped and turned toward them with a smile. "Yes, Sheriff?" she asked.

"Check please."

* * *

As Emma left Granny's diner and was making her way across the street, she noticed the familiar yellow Bug parked just a few feet away. What was strange was that its owner was still inside, and from the looks of it, simply hanging out.

Confused, Emma made her way over to the small car and tapped on the window. She chuckled as Henry jumped, dropping his newspaper and smacking his face on the window as he instantly turned toward her. She laughed even harder when he cursed and rubbed at the sore spot while rolling his window down.

"Hey," Emma laughed out. "You okay?"

Henry was still rubbing his forehead as he chuckled with her and said, "Oh, in my world of tight spots, crashing in my car doesn't even rank in the top ten."

The Sheriff's eyes widened at that. "You're _sleeping_ here?" she asked, surprised.

He nodded as he moved to clamber out of his car. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it, his biceps visible in his white tank and rippling as he crossed his arms over his chest and smiled awkwardly at his mother. "Til I find a place, yeah."

A giant grin instantly formed on Emma's face as she asked, "You decided to stay?"

"Yeah, I guess," he chuckled. "This town doesn't seem to have any vacancies, though." He quirked a brow at his mother. "Is that normal, or is it just the big bad curse?"

She laughed as she asked, "Sorry? Curse?"

"Oh, from that book your mom gave me," he told her, trying to laugh it off even though it was hard to do considering he actually knew the damn thing was real and it was what was keeping him from pulling her into a tight hug and telling her he loved her and had missed her for years.

"The fairytales book," he clarified further. "Ringing a bell?"

"Oh right, yeah. That huge book of stories that my mom used to keep. She gave it to you?"

"Yeah, that first day I met her. She said that I needed a little hope."

Emma laughed as she nodded her head and said, "Yeah, that's definitely my mother. She's big on hope and love and what-not. Ever the optimist."

"And you're not?" Henry asked her softly. "All that positivity and none of it rubbed off on you?"

Emma sighed as she jammed her hands down into her jean pockets and scuffed the toe of her shoe against the pavement of the road. "I guess we all have our hang-ups, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Henry agreed, sighing as he thought of the happy couple his parents had been when he was a boy. There were images so vivid in his mind that he had never been able to let them go, not once in his entire life—images of his mothers laughing together, kissing, dancing, or simply holding one another. It was the truest love he had ever seen, in any realm.

Henry sucked in a quick breath to clear away those thoughts, and smiled at his mother. "So, why are you out so late?"

"Hey, come on," Emma laughed. "I'm a cop, not a nun." She then shrugged her shoulders as she more mumbled than outwardly said, "I had a date."

Henry's heart clenched painfully in his chest with the unspoken knowledge that Emma's date had _not _been with his other mother, Regina. _God, _he thought, _nothing about any of this is right. _Still, he did his best to put on a smile and jokingly said, "Well, from the looks of things, it went _well_."

Emma just sighed and nodded her head. "As well as they always do," she said quietly, almost sadly.

"Tell me she at least paid," Henry prompted, and truthfully, he really did want to know. Whoever the hell this date was had better have, at least, treated his mother like a goddamn lady.

Emma furrowed her brows at that. "Uh, it wasn't a she."

"Oh, right, sorry," Henry quickly said, his cheeks flushing red. "I didn't mean to assume anything. Sorry."

Then again, it wasn't as if his assumption wasn't well-founded. His mothers were lesbians, but apparently, the curse was hell-bent on making them straight. _Whatever keeps them the furthest apart, huh Grandma? _He internally cursed his evil grandmother. Henry's face then paled for a second as he thought of how his mothers would react when he finally managed to break this lame-ass, obviously anti-gay curse. _Yup, they're going to be pissed. _

"It's fine," Emma told him, laughing. "Don't look so freaked out. I'm not offended or anything. A lot of people make that assumption about women in law enforcement, and honestly, I don't really like to label myself; so, it's not a big deal."

They laughed awkwardly together before Emma went on to say, "Oh, and no, he didn't pay."

A spark of anger flashed through Henry's eyes and he could feel his hands curling into fists under his arms. He kept his cool, though, as he cleared his throat and said, "Well, guys can be total assholes."

"You including yourself in that assessment?" Emma asked, grinning at him.

"Of course," Henry joked. "Nah, I just try to be a good guy, you know? Nothing more, nothing less."

Emma just stared at him, intrigued by this guy. She couldn't explain it, but she felt so drawn to him, yet the thought of dating him sincerely bothered her. She didn't have a clue why, but it did. Still, she felt as if she knew him somehow; or maybe it was that she felt like she _should _know him.

"Anyway," Henry said after a few seconds of silence, "I guess if true love was easy, we'd all have it, yeah?"

"True love, huh?" Emma asked him, surprised. "I think you've been reading that book my mom gave you a little too much." Henry just shrugged as they grinned at each other, but he was then thoroughly surprised when Emma timidly said, "You know, if things get cramped, I _do_ have a spare room."

Henry stared at her for a long moment, overwhelmed again with wanting to pull his mother into his arms and just embrace her. Family was something that felt both so familiar and so foreign to him. He had such wonderful memories with this woman from his early childhood, but he also had memories of his time in the foster system, which had been admittedly rather unpleasant. Both experiences combined, and Henry felt like a wreck in that moment—overwhelmed with everything that stirred within.

He instantly wanted to accept the offer, but at the same time, he didn't want to be an inconvenience. He also worried that him staying with Emma might cause problems for the Sheriff, the primary being that it would most likely be a quick way to put his mother on Cora's shit list.

He also worried that they might have to deal with a horde of rumors about the living situation. Why so many people couldn't understand that some people of the opposite sex really were _just friends_, and it didn't ever have to be anything more, was completely beyond him.

Still, it wasn't like he could just say—"Shut up everyone! She's my mother!"

"Thanks," he finally muttered out in a long sigh, making a quick decision. "I'm not really the roommate type though. It's just not my thing."

It wasn't a lie. He really wasn't one for roommates. He would have made an exception for his mother, though. He sighed again as he reminded himself that it was probably best to turn down the offer. He scratched at the back of his neck uncomfortably as he told her, "I do better on my own."

Emma didn't seem upset or disappointed when she simply accepted his answer with a firm nod. "I get it," she said with a smile. She then shrugged and clapped her hands together with obvious finality. "Well, good night," she told him. She then pointed at his car and laughed a bit. "Good luck with all of that."

Henry nodded and chuckled. "Yeah," he breathed out. "Thanks."

* * *

Henry rubbed at his eyes sleepily as he followed Mary Margaret through the hospital ward, helping her place tiny vases of flowers on the patients' bedside tables. He shook his head with a smile as they walked under the giant "Get Well" banner that her students had made for the patients. He shifted to the side to avoid bumping into one of the many students walking around, visiting patients and talking with them.

"I can't believe I let you rope me into this," Henry said, chuckling as he patted one particularly shy kid on the back and urged him toward a lone patient.

Mary Margaret turned to smile at him as she set yet another vase on a table. "All I did was ask," she teased, defending herself. "You easily could have turned me down."

"Oh, yeah, and be the guy that passes up the volunteer work," he drawled playfully. "You know, the opportunities to act and look like an actual decent human being?"

She laughed then. "So, I take it you're not typically one to enjoy volunteer work? Or is it the children that you are not a fan of?"

Henry shook his head quickly. "It's not that," he told her honestly, "or the kids, really. It's more that I'm just not really one for early mornings."

Mary Margaret chuckled, but Henry was no longer paying attention. When his grandmother had shifted in front of him, his eyes had locked onto the view behind her—a patient in an isolated room of the ward.

Henry's feet were moving before he even realized it, and within seconds, he was stepping into the patient's room. His breath caught in his throat and his eyes began to water as he looked over the form of a man he most certainly recognized—the man's strong features, similar to his own, and that graying blonde hair. It was his grandfather.

He stepped over to the bed and placed his hand on his grandfather's, his heart clenching so fiercely in his chest that he could hardly stand it. He was so wrapped up in the moment that he didn't hear the sliding doors open behind him, nor did he hear Mary Margaret step up to his side.

"Henry," she said softly, and Henry whirled to face her. She smiled at him. "We could really use your help with hanging the second banner."

Henry glanced back and forth between his grandmother and his grandfather, his heart only hurting more when he saw that not even a spark of recognition danced in the petite woman's eyes when she looked down at her own husband.

This, _everything_, was so fucked up.

Henry, realizing how long he had been frozen there, staring back and forth between Mary Margaret and the man in the bed, quickly shook his head and cleared his throat. "Uh, who is this?" he asked her.

"Mr. Doe," Mary Margaret answered. When Henry turned back to her with a confused expression, she laughed and said, "He's a John Doe, but a lot of the kids call him 'Mr. Doe' because they think it's his actual name."

Henry tried to muster up a chuckle, but it mostly just died in his throat. "Do _you _know who he is?" he asked.

"Nope," she answered easily, shaking her head. "I just bring him flowers on my rounds."

Henry nodded, unconsciously squeezing his grandfather's hand, which he still hadn't let go of. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know." Mary Margaret stepped over, and when the sliding doors opened, she grabbed a small vase of flowers from her cart and brought it back inside. She placed it on the table beside the bed as she said, "He's been like this as long as I've been volunteering."

Henry cleared his throat roughly before asking, "Does he have any family or friends?"

"No one's claimed him."

"So, he's all alone," Henry said, his sorrow mounting, though it was equally mixed with a deep anger that resonated throughout his entire body. His family…his loving, beautiful family had been completely and utterly torn apart by this curse.

They were broken.

"Yeah," his grandmother sighed softly. "It's quite sad."

She then turned to leave the room, but Henry quickly reached out to stop her. He gently latched onto her arm so that she turned and looked at him expectantly.

He locked gazes with her then and quietly asked, "Are you _sure_ you don't know him?"

Mary Margaret frowned at him, confused. "Of course I'm sure," she told him. She reached out and patted Henry's hand gently then as she said, "Come on, let's help the kids with the banner."

* * *

Henry sat in his car, the book of fairytales in his lap. He flipped through some of the earliest stories in the book—one of which was the tale of Snow White and her Prince Charming. He knew the story by heart, but he hadn't paid much attention to it after Mary Margaret had given him the book. It was your typical boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, girl falls for boy, boy and girl get married and pop out a baby, type of story. There were, of course, a few minor run-ins with the Evil Queen, but nothing too major. That was before Cora had ever truly earned her wretched title.

Their story wasn't as exciting a tale as that of his mothers. Now _that_ story was unique and thrilling. He had made them tell it to him countless times when he was a little boy, and he could still remember every word—every twist and turn; how they began as enemies but then grew in love. That, and well…his moms were certifiably badass, also proven by their stories.

Henry sighed as he glanced down at the pages to the gorgeous illustrations that were shockingly accurate. _Honestly, _he thought, _how in the hell did Grandma read this and not see that that is her?! It friggin' looks just like her, though a much younger version of course._

He then flipped the page to the picture of his grandfather, looking perfectly regal in a red velvet cape. The image, though, only broke his heart. His grandfather was in the hospital…in a coma, no less. And god, his poor grandmother. Her soul mate was in a coma, and she didn't even have a clue who he was.

He wanted nothing more than to just tell her, but what good would that do? It's not like she would ever actually believe him. Hell, even if she _would _believe him, he still didn't know if telling her would be the right thing. He could only imagine the joy of learning that you have a soul mate, only to then be crushed with the knowledge that that person was in a coma and _had_ been for twenty-one years.

Not having a happy ending was painful enough, but giving someone unrealistic hope was far worse.

Henry glanced back down to the pages, his fingers tracing over the images, and that's when it hit him.

His eyes widened as he stared at the pages, his lips parting just slightly as he quietly whispered to himself, "What if…"

* * *

"You want me to read to a coma patient?" Mary Margaret asked as she handed Henry a mug of cocoa.

"Eh, it's just a suggestion," Henry said, shrugging it off. "It just seemed like the guy never gets any visitors, and I'm guessing the kids don't try to talk to him or read to him since he can't actually respond like the other patients."

"Well, yes, I suppose that is true," she answered as she took a sip of her own cocoa.

"Couldn't hurt, right?" Henry asked. "I mean, you are supposed to be all gung-ho volunteer, right?"

Mary Margaret chuckled even as she nodded. "And?"

"And you can't just leave one patient out," Henry told her, laughing. "That would just be wrong. No one should be that alone."

Mary Margaret didn't have a clue why, but something told her that this was really important to the young man, and as strange as it seemed, that made it feel important to her as well. She felt a strange sort of motherly pull to Henry, and if she was being honest with herself, she didn't want to disappoint him.

So, she nodded firmly, and said, "I suppose you're right. It wouldn't hurt at all."

Henry rewarded her with a bright smile as he reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "That's the spirit." He then laughed as he teasingly said, "And hey, you never know. You might be the key to waking the guy up."

"Oh I doubt that."

"You never know," Henry told her as he scratched at his goatee and ran a hand through his unruly hair. "You could wake him up, and then you'd be his own personal hero. Who knows? He might be a pretty _charming _guy."

Mary Margaret laughed as she clued in to what he was saying. "Oh, yes, right. I see. I'm Snow White, right? So, I must have a Prince Charming."

"Of course," Henry agreed. "I mean, you don't already have one, right?"

Mary Margaret looked down, running her finger over the rim of her cocoa mug as she silently shook her head back and forth. She sighed when she looked up again and quietly said, "Emma's father left a very long time ago, before she was even born. That was nearly thirty years ago. I don't even really remember what he looked like it's been so long, and now I'm just getting to be too old for dating."

She sighed again, sadly, and Henry reached out to squeeze her hand once more just as she muttered, "So, yes, I suppose I am alone, too."

Henry patted her hand gently, and he offered her a loving smile as he quietly asked, "All the more reason, right? And then maybe, even if it's just for a few hours, you won't have to be."

Mary Margaret reached up and wiped at her eyes as she sucked in a deep breath and returned Henry's smile. "Well, I suppose I will go get ready for my date," she said with a soft chuckle. "I guess I'll be doing all the talking."

* * *

"Look, I know this odd," Mary Margaret spoke softly as she sat on the edge of the coma patient's bed with the large book of fairytales, returned from Henry, in her lap, "but I'm doing it for a friend, so please just bear with me."

She wasn't sure why she chose the story of Snow White and Prince Charming; maybe it was because of the talk she had had with Henry earlier that day, or the joke that he and her daughter had made about her being so very like Snow White. Or maybe it was just because she had always adored the story—a tale of true love; touching, beautiful, lasting.

It had always resonated with her, and for as long as she could remember, it had been her favorite fairytale. She even named her daughter after the name that Snow White had given _her_ child in the story—Emma.

It was an old royal name as were most of the women's names in stories such as this, with kings and queens and princesses and princes. There were always Victoria's and Emma's and Elizabeth's and Regina's and Katherine's, and so on. Mary Margaret had always found 'Emma' particularly beautiful however. Given Henry's recent teasing, though, it now seemed quite funny that she named her daughter that.

Mary Margaret read to John Doe for hours, weaving through all of the stories of Prince Charming and Snow White, and found herself quite enjoying it. Once she had completed their story, she was surprised to find that the two iconic characters' daughter had a story of her own.

She had never actually read that far into the book. The pixie-haired woman chuckled as she looked to the sleeping man and quietly said, "Well, Prince Charming…how would you like to hear the story of our daughter?"

She shook her head as she laughed at herself and began to read the story of the young blonde princess, Emma, which later developed into a thrilling and beautiful love story with none other than the daughter of the Evil Queen.

Tears welled in her eyes at the beauty of the story, and she found herself hoping her own daughter might find a love so pure and so true someday. She allowed her love for Emma to flood her heart as she continued to read quietly aloud.

"They didn't need words to express what they felt in their hearts," she whispered, "for it was here in the shadow of the troll bridge that their love was born for they knew no matter how they were separated that they would always—"

Mary Margaret jumped, the story instantly dying on her lips, as a hand landed firmly on top of hers. She glanced down to the man's strong, only slightly wrinkled hand before following it up to his face. His eyes remained closed and his face serene, but Mary Margaret could not shake what had just happened.

Somehow, she had gotten through to him.

* * *

Mary Margaret rushed back toward John Doe's room with Dr. Whale hot on her heels. "I was sure he was waking up," she told him excitedly as they made their way inside. "He grabbed my hand."

Dr. Whale was thoroughly surprised by that information. He leaned over to check the man's vitals, his brows furrowed. After a few seconds, he sighed and looked back to the pixie-haired woman.

"Everything's steady, same as it's always been," he informed her. "What were you doing in here?"

"I was just reading him a story."

"Oh," Whale said, nodding, "well perhaps you dozed off. Perhaps you imagined it."

"No, I didn't imagine it," Mary Margaret denied. She was sure of what had happened.

"Well, Miss Blanchard, I can only tell you what I see, which is nothing," Whale replied with another deep sigh. "Sometimes there are minor fluctuations in readings, but perhaps you heard the machine register something and misunderstood."

When she said nothing in response, he reached across the bed and patted her shoulder. The Sheriff's mother seemed like a sweet older woman, and he didn't want to upset her, so he gently suggested, "Why don't you go home, get some rest? If anything changes, I'll call you, okay?"

Mary Margaret continued to stare at John Doe for another long moment, her lips downturned and her eyes confused and sad. But she said nothing as she then grabbed the book of fairytales and quietly walked out the door.

Dr. Whale waited until the petite woman was out of sight before pulling out his cell phone and dialing, his eyes fixed on the readings of the machines that were wired to his John Doe.

A single ring echoed in his ear before a familiar feminine voice answered with a curt, _"Yes?"_

"It's Dr. Whale," he answered. "You told me to call you if there's ever a change in our John Doe. Something's happened."

"_What?"_

"One of our volunteers said he grabbed her, and there _was_ a slight fluctuation in brain activity," he admitted now that said volunteer was no longer around.

"_And who was this volunteer?"_

"Mary Margaret Blanchard."

Cora seethed as she instantly pulled the phone away from her ear upon hearing the doctor speak that woman's name—the woman who had created the source of Regina's truest happiness, the woman who had taken Regina in and celebrated that very happiness, the woman who had become more of a mother to her daughter than Cora herself had ever been; the woman whose own true love could possibly also pose a threat to her curse.

* * *

Mary Margaret sat on the small couch in her loft, thumbing through the pages of the large book of fairytales. She flipped again to the story of Snow White's daughter—the epic true love of two young women. She wasn't sure why, but the more she had read of it at the hospital, the more she had come to love it—more so even than the story of Snow White herself, perhaps. Maybe it was because it was such an exciting story of true love really overcoming a multitude of obstacles, but perhaps it was more that it made her think of her own precious daughter.

As much as Mary Margaret longed for a love like that, she desired it more for her daughter. She wanted Emma's happiness more than her own.

She smiled as she flipped back to the beginning of the young princess's story—the beautiful blonde in pursuit of a thief.

_The cloaked thief slipped a handful of jewels into a small bag before grabbing a long leather-corded necklace with a glass vial hanging from it. She slipped it over her head before pulling her hood back into place and slipping out of her hiding place—a hollowed tree that had become her makeshift home._

_She glanced around as she exited the tree, ensuring that no one was around to see her as she then did her best to cover the entrance of her hideout. She then took off, but only managed a few steps before she was suddenly slung into the air, caught in a rather expertly prepared rope tree trap. The thief's breathing grew quick and shallow in her chest as she sat in the trap, hovering over the ground with no way out. _

_Her head jerked up as a loud bark of laughter echoed through the wood, and the thief let out a growl of anger as she saw the source the laugh. The blonde princess she had stolen from a day earlier stepped into the clearing, looking beyond smug. _

_The woman was wearing leather trousers, knee-high laced leather boots, a deep green tunic that both complemented her eyes as well as spoke much of her status, and a sword on her hip. Her long golden hair shimmered in the sunlight that streamed through the tree tops and her pearly white teeth glinted with every smile._

"_I told you I'd find you," Emma said as she laughed up at the trapped thief. "It's in my blood, finding people."_

_The thief rolled her eyes at the blonde through the holes of the rope trap. "Is this the only way you can catch a woman?" she drawled. "By trapping her?"_

_Emma laughed again at that. She stood beneath the trap, her arms crossed over her chest and a grin still planted firmly on her face. "It's the only way to catch thieving scum."_

"_Wow, that's quite the pick-up line," the thief snapped sarcastically. "Aren't you a regular knight in shining armor?"_

"_Well, I did sweep you off your feet," Emma answered, laughing, "literally."_

_The trapped woman chuckled bitterly as she said, "Mhm, a real white knight." _

"_I'm actually a princess," Emma told her, "and I have a name, you know."_

"_Don't care," the thief said with a shrug. "White Knight suits you. Now cut me down, _my knight_."_

_Emma quirked a brow at the thieving woman as she shook her head and told her, "I'll release you when you return the leather pouch you stole with my jewels."_

_Those supple lips pursed as the thief's face contorted with feigned confusion and disinterest. "Not the jewelry type."_

"_Indeed," Emma agreed with a snort of laughter. "I noticed."_

"_What is that supposed to mean?" the thief snapped, moving her face a bit closer to the ropes so that she could better glare at the annoying princess below. "Are you insulting me?"_

"_You're right," Emma drawled. "How dare I cast aspersions at the person who_ robbed_ me?" She shook her head as the thief just rolled her eyes once more and shrugged. "Where are my jewels?"_

"_I sold them."_

_A burst of panic and anger spilled through Emma's chest as she snapped, "What?"_

"_What do you care?" the trapped woman asked, using a gloved hand to push a strand of chocolate hair from her face and back beneath her hood. "Don't you have a palace full of treasure somewhere?"_

"_These were special," Emma told her. "Among them was a ring that belonged to my mother, that she gave me, a ring I was about to give—"_

"_The _nag_ with the bad attitude?!" the thief interjected, her brown eyes wide with disbelief. "_That's_ what this is about?"_

_Emma took a deep breath to keep calm as she bit out, "She's my fiancée."_

_The thief let out a burst of mocking laughter as she said, "Good luck with that. You must be getting something impressive to have agreed to that union."_

"_Excuse me?" Emma hissed, not liking the implication._

"_I know how this works," the brunette drawled. "True love, it doesn't exist. It's all arranged marriages and business transactions. There's no such thing as love at first sight or first kiss. Let me guess, her kingdom wants to take over yours, and this is what? A last ditch effort to—"_

"_This is not a takeover," Emma cut in. "My parents run quite a peaceful kingdom, and they run it well. It's a friendly and strategic merger, and quite frankly, it's none of your business." She then cleared her throat roughly and spoke with authority as she said, "Now, this is what's going to happen."_

_The brunette pursed her lips and nodded mockingly. "Okay."_

"_I'm going to cut you down."_

"_Mmhmm."_

"_And you are going to take me to whoever has my jewels, and then you are going to get my ring back."_

"_Uh uh," the thief said easily, shaking her head in denial. "Why would I do that?"_

"_Because," Emma told her, that smug grin slowly returning to her face as she pulled a folded piece of parchment from a small satchel strapped to her waist, "you don't want me to tell anyone who you really are." She unfolded the parchment and held it up to the light, a perfect illustration of the thief drawn across it with the words: WANTED for crimes against the Queen. Murder, Treason, Treachery._

_Emma's eyes glinted with her glee as she saw the other woman's eyes widen at the sight of the wanted poster. "Regina."_

_Regina swallowed thickly as she stared at her face on the wanted poster and knew that the game was over. She could not argue with the evidence right in front of her. _

"_Help me get my ring back or I turn you over to the queen's forces," Emma told her, "and I have a feeling the queen is not quite the…white knight that I am."_

_Regina let out a heavy sigh as she nodded her head slightly and said, "Well, I wouldn't want to stand in the way of your getting true love."_

* * *

"Thanks for the shirt," Henry said as he returned to the booth he'd been sharing with his blonde mother. "Hey, is this Graham's?"

"He'll never notice," Emma told him with a shrug. "We both keep some spare clothes at the station. You never know what kind of shit you'll get into or when you might end up staying overnight."

"I see."

"Yeah, speaking of Graham," his mother said, narrowing her eyes at him. "What's the deal with you two? You seemed to be getting along fine and then suddenly I mention you and he gets pissed and stomps out of the station. Something you wanna tell me?"

Henry sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "It was a misunderstanding, honestly, and now the guy thinks I've got a thing for his wife." He hardly covered the shiver that ran through his body, just talking about it. God, if Graham only knew. "I think Cora and Regina sort of set it up that way, to get me on his bad side."

Emma chuckled a bit as her eyebrows raised. "Wow, and he really bought it?"

"Seems that way," Henry told her with a shrug. "I can assure you, though, I'm most definitely _not _interested in the Mayor."

Emma laughed as she asked, "Attractive, hard-ass mayors with vindictive mothers not your cup of tea, huh?"

Henry quirked a brow at her then. "Attractive, huh?"

Excitement ripped through him when he saw his mother's cheeks turn a deep crimson, and he quietly said, "Maybe it's _you_ that Graham should be worried about."

Emma cut him a glare then as she hissed, "Not funny."

Before either could say another word, the door to the diner opened and Mary Margaret practically sprinted inside, her short and graying raven locks swishing across her eyes.

"He woke up!" she exclaimed as she quickly made her way over to Henry and Emma.

"What?" Emma asked, confused.

Henry, though, just grinned brightly despite his complete shock at his idea having actually worked. He grabbed her hands and squeezed them as he said, "I knew it."

"Well, I mean, he didn't wake up, wake up," Mary Margaret amended, "but he grabbed my hand."

"That is incredible," Henry told her, and he simply could not stop smiling. It was working. "What did the doctor say?"

Mary Margaret scoffed. "That I imagined it, but I'm not crazy. I know it happened."

"You should go back and read to him again," Henry said as he patted her arm. "Maybe it really is helping. Come on, I'll go with you."

The pixie-haired woman nodded excitedly as they turned to head toward the door. Emma, though, was still completely lost. She reached for her mother's arm as she said, "Wait, wait! What is going on?"

Mary Margaret, too excited to explain anything, just told her, "If I got through to him, if we made a connection, then—I don't know, Emma, but somehow, some way, I touched him."

"Just come and see, Sheriff," Henry interjected, clapping his mother on the shoulder, before following Mary Margaret out the door.

Emma, face still contorted with her utter bewilderment, just threw up her hands and followed them out of the diner. "Since when are you and my mom besties?"

* * *

Mary Margaret, Henry, and Emma strolled through the hospital wards on their way to John Doe's room, but when they noticed the buzz surrounding the man's room, Mary Margaret rushed forward. "He's waking up!" she exclaimed.

Deputy Mills stood outside John Doe's room. He whirled around when he heard Mary Margaret's voice and his eyes instantly locked onto Henry, his gaze morphing into a cold glare.

Emma, seeing this, grabbed Henry's shoulder and quietly said, "Uh, Henry, maybe you should stay back."

"What's going on?" she then asked her deputy.

"Is it John Doe?" Mary Margaret asked worriedly. "Is he okay?"

"He's missing."

Right about that time, Graham shifted a little to his right and Henry was able to see into John Doe's hospital room. His blood ran cold as he saw the unmistakable form of Cora Mills speaking to Dr. Whale.

She looked up then and saw their small group gathered with her son-in-law, and she quickly followed Dr. Whale out of the room.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she practically spat at Henry. "Haven't you caused enough trouble?"

"What happened to John Doe?" Mary Margaret snapped out, desperate for answers and to keep everyone on track. "Did someone take him?"

"We don't know yet," Graham told her. "His IV's were ripped out, but there was no sign of a struggle."

Henry moved a bit closer to Cora and quietly hissed, "What did _you_ do?"

She arched an amused brow at him as she just as quietly asked, "Oh, you think I had something to do with this?"

"Well, I'll be taking over this case then," Emma said, gaining their attention. "Surprised I wasn't called to begin with…_Graham._"

Graham looked only slightly guilty but then he glanced back and forth between Emma and Henry to make his reasons for not calling her quite clear.

"Ah," Emma said, nodding. She then turned to Cora, "And why are you here?"

"I'm here because I'm his emergency contact," Cora answered simply.

Mary Margaret's eyes widened at that. "You know him?" she asked.

"I _found_ him," Cora corrected, "on the side of the road years ago with no ID. I brought him here."

"She saved his life," Whale cut in with a nod.

"Will he be okay?" Emma asked the doctor, glaring a bit at the man because she still hadn't forgotten their positively horrid date.

"Okay?" Whale reiterated. "The man's been on feeding tubes for years, under constant supervision. He needs to get back here right away or else "okay" might be a pipe dream."

Henry clapped his hands together as he said, "Well then let's quit yapping and start looking."

"That's what we're doing?" Cora asked, but Graham jumped in before she could say another word.

"Why don't _you_ just stay out of this?" he snapped at Henry, taking a step toward him only to be stopped by Emma's hand pressing against his chest.

She leveled her gaze at her deputy as she quietly said, "Why don't _you _go home? You need to take a breather, calm down, clear your head. You hear me?"

Graham let out a heavy sigh as he subtly nodded before pushing past her hand. He stopped as he stepped around Henry, glanced down at the other man's attire, and hissed, "Enjoy my shirt, because that's all you're getting."

Cora grinned wickedly at the interaction before turning toward Emma. "Sheriff," she said, her obvious dislike of the woman dripping in her voice as she spoke the word, "find John Doe. You heard Dr. Whale—time is precious."

* * *

"You two were the only ones here last night and you saw nothing?" Emma asked the two security guards, both of whom Henry recognized as two of the seven dwarves—one of them, his favorite—Grumpy; or Leroy, as he believed the man was called in this world.

"Not a thing."

"Did anyone walk by?" Henry asked.

"I didn't see anything," Leroy huffed as he leaned against a filing cabinet and stared at them.

"Mom, did you see anything unusual during your trip with your class?" Emma asked, turning to her mother.

Mary Margaret shook her head as she thought back. "I don't think so." She then looked at Henry. "Did you, Henry?"

"Not that I recall," he said, shaking his head also. His eyes then locked on the security tape that was playing for them on a few small screens. His eyes narrowed as he squinted to see the details of the frame better, and that's when something clicked.

"We're looking at the wrong tape," he announced. "This is the ward where Mary Margaret's class put up decorations. If this was really the tape, we'd see the banner that the kids hung."

Leroy let out a frustrated huff as he pointed at his co-worker. "You fell asleep again," he accused.

"You sellin' me out?" the other man asked angrily.

"I ain't gettin' fired for this."

"At least I don't drink on the job!"

"Gentlemen, enough!" Emma snapped. "Where's the real tape?"

Once the correct tape was inserted, they pressed play and watched as John Doe slipped out of his bed and shuffled confusedly through the ward, before stumbling out of a side door.

"He walked out alone," Mary Margaret whispered. "He's okay."

"Four hours ago," Henry said, pointing to the recorded time on the screen. "Where does that door lead?"

Leroy ducked his head as he quietly told them, "The woods."

* * *

_Regina trudged through the woods, followed closely by the blonde princess she had been unable to escape. They walked in silence for a while before Emma stepped up to her side. Regina could feel the woman's eyes on her as she ran her fingers along the leather cord of her necklace._

"_Thought you weren't the jewelry type?" Emma asked. "What's that around your neck?"_

"_Don't worry about it," Regina bit out. The less this woman knew, the better. _

_Emma smiled at the brunette's cheeky attitude. Regina had fire. She respected that, even if the woman was a thief and apparently a treacherous, treasonous murderer according to her wanted poster._

_She laughed as she shot out a hand and yanked the necklace from the brunette's neck. She then held it up and dangled it gloatingly in front of her._

"_Careful!" Regina snapped, whirling on her. "It's a weapon."_

"_Dust?" Emma deadpanned disbelievingly. "What kind of a weapon is dust?"_

"Fairy_ dust."_

"_I thought that was a good thing."_

"_When it comes from a good fairy," Regina huffed. She then pointed at the small vial on her necklace as it dangled from Emma's hand. "This stuff is deadly. It transforms the most fearsome of adversaries into a form that's easily squashed." _

"_Then why didn't you use it on me?"_

"_Because you're not worth it," Regina told her simply, to which Emma scoffed. "It's very hard to come by. I was saving it for a special someone."_

"_Ah, the queen," Emma hummed, thinking back to the wanted poster as they began walking again. "You've got a lot of anger there, don't you Regina?"_

"_The charges on that poster are lies," Regina defended herself as she smacked at hanging leaves to clear them from her path. "Didn't stop her from sending her huntsman to rip out my heart."_

_Emma's brows furrowed at that. "What happened?"_

"_Well, not everyone is a soulless royal," Regina told her, cutting her a look that Emma couldn't help but roll her eyes at. "He took pity on me and let me go. I've been hiding in the forest ever since, trying to amass enough fortune to leave this place, escape to another realm, somewhere isolated where I can never be hurt."_

_Emma actually felt a pang of sorrow rip through her heart at the sincerity decorating the woman's voice. "Sounds lonely."_

"_No lonelier than an arranged marriage."_

_Emma chuckled as she argued back. "At least I don't prey on the innocent."_

"_Up until now, I've only ever stolen from the queen," Regina explained, defending herself once more, "and I thought your carriage was one of hers. No one else ever uses that road."_

"_We took the scenic route."_

_Regina sighed and rolled her eyes at that. "Well lucky for me," she drawled. She then looked over to the princess and told her, "All I'm doing is what it takes to survive. She wants me dead."_

_Emma nodded as she let those words sink in, before asking, "So, what did you do to incur that much wrath?"_

"_She blames me for ruining her life," Regina admitted in a forlorn whisper._

"_Did you?"_

_Regina let out a long, heavy sigh as she kicked at the small sticks and rocks on the forest floor. "Only if you count being born."_

_She kept walking even as Emma stopped and stared at her, the blonde completely torn by what she had just heard. She didn't quite understand what Regina meant, but there was no mistaking the utter sorrow in the woman's voice. It gave her great pause._

_She was shaken from her thoughts, though, when Regina called out to her._

"_I'm thirsty," the brunette said, pointing through an opening in the brush to a river. "May I?"_

_Emma nodded firmly. "Sure," she agreed. "Make it quick."_

_Regina knelt by the side of the river and cupped her hands in the stream, bringing small amounts to her lips to sip and soothe. She watched her companion carefully, and when the blonde crouched beside her, resting the bag of jewels at her feet, and began to drink also, Regina made her move._

_She lunged to the side and pushed Emma forward as hard as she could. The blonde tumbled forward into the river, its current quickly pulling her in and carrying her away._

_Regina then grabbed the abandoned pouch of jewels and took off in a mad sprint, back into the woods. She grinned when she saw the road after only a few minutes of running, and made her way toward it._

_When she stumbled out onto the smoother path, though, she quickly slid to a stop. Her eyes blew wide as her heart plummeted into her stomach as three of the queen's guard made their way toward her—their black armor glinting in the sunlight as they sat atop their midnight steeds._

"_Huh," one of them said, his lips stretching into a wide smile as he realized who he was looking at. "Look who we found."_

_Regina glanced quickly around, desperate for an escape route, but the guard clucked his tongue at her and shook his head._

"_There's nowhere to hide," he told her. "The queen wants your heart, and we're not going to disappoint her."_


	6. Chapter 6: Snow Falls, Pt 2

**A/N: Hello friends. Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I've been putting a lot of focus on outside projects (outside of fanfiction) lately, so that's why, but I will do my best to update as often as possible. **

**Thank you to all of you who continue to support this story and share your thoughts and enthusiasm with me. I greatly appreciate the support and the reviews, more than I can say.**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter. XO-Chrmdpoet**

Chapter Six: Snow Falls, Pt. 2

Henry traipsed through the cold woods surrounding Storybrooke with his mother and his grandmother trailing closely behind him. It was growing dark, which made the search harder, but they couldn't give up. Henry knew as much. His grandfather was lost in the woods somewhere, his health and life possibly at risk.

The tracking had been fairly simple thus far; at least, for someone who was paying close attention. He merely followed the path of footprints, however faint. There were other clues as well—snapped branches, disturbed dirt. Henry wasn't incredibly familiar with this level of tracking, but he made do with what little he knew.

He quickly halted, however, when the footprints ceased. He glanced down at the last footprint, barely visible in the dry dirt.

"What is it?" Mary Margaret asked from behind him, curious as to why he had stopped.

"The trail runs out here," he told her, pointing to the last footprint. He wasn't sure why the trail suddenly ended. His best guess was that the vast amount of leaves and moss littering the forest floor from that point on aided in covering the trail.

"You sure?" Emma asked. "I thought finding people was one of your skills."

Henry rolled his eyes as his mother's impatience. _Really, Mom? _He thought. _Thanks for the vote of confidence._

"Just give me a second, okay?" he answered. "The people I find usually run to places like Vegas. Not a lot hit the woods."

"That's an interesting job, finding people," Mary Margaret cut in. "How'd you fall into it?"

Henry's eyes cut to Emma for a long moment before he looked back to his grandmother. He scratched at his goatee as he shrugged and said, "Looking for people is just what I've done for long as I can remember."

Mary Margaret nodded, but her eyes narrowed as she pushed the topic a bit further. "What made you start?"

"Truthfully?" Henry asked, sighing heavily as his eyes darted back to his mother for only a moment. He then averted his gaze entirely, focusing on the ground again as he muttered, "My parents."

Both his grandmother and his mother looked and felt terribly uncomfortable in that moment, and neither could hide the hint of sorrow in their eyes as they watched the man.

"Did you ever find them?" Emma asked after a moment of awkward silence.

Henry couldn't help the cold laugh that slipped through his lips then. It was terribly ironic for this woman to be asking him this question. He sighed again as he shook his head. "Depends who you ask."

* * *

_Regina glanced quickly around, desperate for an escape route, but the guard clucked his tongue at her and shook his head._

"_There's nowhere to hide," he told her. "The queen wants your heart, and we're not going to disappoint her."_

_The guard then pulled a long, gleaming dagger from a side holster and motioned for two of the other guards to surround Regina on all sides. They loomed from every direction, growing closer and closer to her._

"_Hold her still," he commanded, and that was when the guards lunged. They grabbed at her arms and held her firmly in place, holding her head down so that the back of her neck was cleanly exposed. _

_The guard with the dagger chuckled as he sauntered forward toward his now defenseless prey and raised his weapon high into the air. Just as he was about to swiftly drop the blade in execution, a loud and sickening thud echoed through the wood. The guard's eyes blew wide before he keeled over to the side, tumbling to the dirt floor of the forest, dead on arrival._

_Regina's eyes widened as she saw the butt of an entirely different dagger protruding from the fallen guard's back, and then her gaze shot up and into the wood, where none other than the one she had been fleeing from stood between the trees. The golden-haired princess's arm was still extended outward from the throw, and that sent a ripple of excitement down Regina's spine._

_She could hardly believe what she was seeing as Emma then drew a sword from her hilt and rushed forward. The queen's guards met her blow for blow, but the princess was a more skillful swordsmen. As much was obvious as she sliced her way through guard after guard._

_With the guards distracted, Regina took the opportunity to run for one of their abandoned horses. Just as she was about to leap atop the midnight steed, though, the only guard that had remained atop his horse charged for her. He swept her from the ground, threw her across his lap, and snapped his reins loudly—urging his steed to flee._

_Emma cut down her last opponent, her eyes darting up just in time to see the guard who had taken Regina disappearing around a cluster of trees. Panic flooded her system, and she quickly glanced around for something to help her, to help Regina. She then sprinted over to a lone horse and retrieved a bow and quiver of arrows from its saddle before taking off into the woods on foot._

_She raced through the trees as if her own life depended upon her speed, cutting across the forest to intersect the path of the guard's steed. When she could see the road once more, Emma yanked her bow up into position and loaded an arrow quickly into place. She took a deep breath as she carefully tracked the guard's rapid movement with her eyes, and then with perfect aim, Emma exhaled and released her arrow._

_It whizzed through the trees, a whistling sound quietly echoing in its wake, and sunk perfectly and forcefully into the guard's neck. The armored man toppled from his racing steed, tumbling to the ground and leaving Regina to quickly pull herself up into the saddle and reach for the reins._

_Emma smirked at her own perfect aim and success before darting down from the trees and out into the road just as Regina was pulling the horse to a halt. The brunette slid from the saddle and met with the breathless blonde, whose eyes roamed concernedly over her body once, twice…_

"_Are you alright?" the princess asked, panting between the words._

_Regina's dark brows furrowed as she stared at the other woman in sheer astonishment. This woman had risked her own life to fight for her, the thief who had not only robbed her but then assaulted her and fled. "You…" Regina whispered, the word catching in her throat. She cleared her throat and tried again. "You saved me."_

_Emma shrugged even as a small smiled began to pull at the corners of her mouth. "Seemed like the honorable thing to do." The two women continued to stare into one another's eyes for another long moment, before the blonde shook her head and asked, "Are you ready?"_

"_For what?"_

"_My jewels."_

"_Right!" Regina said quickly, shaking herself from the strange and somehow comfortably tense moment that had only just developed between them. "You've got a wedding to get to."_

_Emma nodded solemnly, and Regina returned the gesture. "The trolls I sold them to are just beyond the next bridge," she told the princess. "We need to be careful."_

"_Careful of what?" Emma laughed out. "Of trolls?"_

_Regina scoffed at the woman's laughter. "You've clearly never met one."_

"_Aren't they just little people?" Emma joked._

"_You're thinking of dwarves," Regina corrected. "Show a little respect. They'll cut your hand off sooner than they'll shake it."_

_Emma was a little taken aback by those words, but she held her composure. She nodded firmly and said, "Well, then let's get this over with."_

"_Yes, we've both got places to be," Regina agreed. "So, let's go."_

_Regina turned to walk back toward the horse that had wandered just a few feet away from them. Emma followed her, smirking as she poked fun at the brunette._

"_Yes," she teased. "You have your lonely little corner of solitude to find."_

_Regina merely arched an eyebrow and fired back. "And you have a ring-less fiancée to appease."_

* * *

"You're the one who woke him up," Henry said, speaking over his shoulder to his grandmother as they continued their trek through the woods. "You were the last voice he heard."

"Yeah, Mom," the Sheriff then interjected. "_What _did you say to him? Maybe it triggered something."

"Oh, well, let's see…" Mary Margaret mumbled quietly as she moved carefully along behind Henry and Emma.

"Maybe he really is your Prince Charming," Henry then said, chuckling so that both women wouldn't know that he was entirely and utterly serious. "Maybe he wants to find _you_."

Mary Margaret smiled softly but simply shook her head. "Henry, it's not about me," she replied. "We both know that. I think he's simply lost and confused. He's been in a coma a long time."

"Well, this would be a lot easier if he _was _looking for _you._" Emma chuckled as she nudged her mother with her elbow and said, "Then we could stop chasing him, and we could just let _him_ find _you_."

The Sheriff's wording instantly caught Henry's attention. He was so happy in that moment that his back was to his mother, because the smile that blasted across his face could have lit the entire night. He knew she hadn't really read any of the fairytales book, so that wording, that phrase, it had to have come from her subconscious—from whatever tiny part of her true self still existed beneath the curse.

Emma sighed then as she ran a hand through her golden curls. "Something's got to give, though. If we don't find this guy, Cora's gonna be on me like white on rice; either that or she'll sick the Mayor on me, and that really wouldn't be good."

"No?" Henry teased, glancing at his mother over his shoulder.

"No way," Emma told him, shooting him a glare. "She'll be pissed at the mere thought of having to deal with all this, and then when she finds out that I let you basically lead this investigation…Well, to put it simply, she's gonna kill me, and then you...and then me again."

Henry started to laugh but the sound got tangled and choked in his throat as his eyes locked onto something on the ground. "Guys!" he exclaimed as he dropped quickly to his knees and grabbed the item.

He held up the little white piece of plastic. It was a hospital bracelet with the name _Doe, John _printed across it. What was most disturbing about the discovery of the bracelet, though, was the fact that the white bracelet was speckled with little spots of crimson.

"Is that…?" Mary Margaret whispered, alarmed.

Emma nodded in answer and finished her mother's thought in a single word. "Blood."

* * *

_The midnight steed trotted along the deserted path toward an ominous-looking stone bridge, its saddle carrying two silent women. Emma held the reins tightly and kept her eyes focused ahead, forcing herself to remain alert despite the distracting warmth of the brunette's hands wrapped tightly around her waist._

_Once they were a few hundred feet from the troll bridge, Regina squeezed Emma's waist to inform her to halt the steed. The blonde did so, and both women slid easily from the saddle, Emma sporting a large bag over her shoulder. Regina then patted the horse's rear and sent it trotting away from them, back the way they had come._

"_Trolls don't like horses," she explained upon seeing the princess's questioning look. "We walk from here." She moved past the blonde and motioned for her to come along. "Follow me and keep quiet."_

_The atmosphere was eerily foggy and silent as the two women made their way onto the old and partly dilapidated bridge. An uneasy feeling settled uncomfortably in the pit of Emma's stomach as her eyes darted wildly around and she quietly asked, "Where are they?"_

"_Oh, they're here," Regina told her, reaching over to place a small stack of gold coins on the stony edge of the bridge. She then stepped back and waited. It was only moments, though, before the crumbling sounds of rocks shifting paired with deep and growling grunts._

_The large and brawny forms of multiple trolls began to crawl over the ledges of the broken bridge, surrounding the two women quickly. One troll, who seemed to be the leader, huffed out several hot breaths between large fangs that protruded up from a heavy under-bite. His eyes darted back and forth between the two women before fixing on the blonde._

_Following his gaze, Regina quickly said, "It's fine. I know her."_

_Emma did not like this situation at all. The trolls were hideous beyond belief and appeared as if they might delight in breaking her and Regina open and drinking their blood. None seemed to please to see her either, and what was worse was that she and Regina were now surrounded._

"_Why are you here?" the troll asked. "I thought we were done."_

"_I want to make another trade," Regina said firmly._

_The troll scoffed and threw up an arm to point at the blonde princess. "We won't talk in front of her!" he exclaimed gruffly. "Who is this woman?"_

"_No, she's with me," Regina explained, waving a dismissive hand in the hopes that it would make the blonde's presence seem insignificant. The trolls, however, were not buying it._

"_Oh, well that's good," the troll said, mockingly. "'With you.' That makes it all _fine_."_

_Regina swallowed thickly before trying again. She waved dismissively once more and said, "Oh she's no one." She then quickly moved to change the subject. "Look, I want to buy back the jewels I sold you."_

"_Who IS she?" the troll then shouted, thrusting one of his large gray fingers in Emma's direction once more._

"_I said don't worry about it," Regina snapped back at him. "Look, I'll give you back all your money. Just give me the ring and you can keep everything else."_

_The troll stared at her for a long moment, his eyes narrowed in suspicion, but then he finally relented. He nodded to another of the trolls who pulled out a small pouch of jewels._

_Emma reached for the pouch and uttered a polite, "Thank you. We appreciate the help."_

_As soon as the words escaped her, the lead troll flew into a panic._

"_She's too eager," he hissed. "It's a set up." The troll's eyes then widened. "She's a royal!"_

_The beast lunged forward and grabbed Regina, spinning her and pulling her to his chest. He held the blade of a curved sword at her throat and stared the blonde princess down._

_The other trolls simultaneously jumped forward to subdue the other woman, holding her arms to prevent her from moving. _

"_Let her go!" Emma shouted at the same time that Regina pleaded with the troll._

"_No, you can trust me," the brunette vowed. "You can trust me. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have."_

_The troll tightened his grip on her and laughed in her ear as he coldly said, "The time for dealing is done." He pointed to Emma and commanded the other trolls. "Search her."_

_One of the trolls separated from the group and aggressively dumped out the bag that the blonde had been carrying. Another searched through the princess's pockets, extracting the fairy-dust necklace from her breast pocket. He stared at the small vial for a moment before shrugging and dropping it to the ground. The other then shouted triumphantly as he pulled a wadded bit of paper from the pile of the bag's contents._

_He unfolded the paper to reveal the wanted poster that Emma had taunted Regina with earlier that day._

_The troll that was holding tightly to the thief, sword pressed to her throat, chuckled viciously as he said, "Regina." She struggled against his hold, but it only caused the troll to tighten his grip. "Quite a reward," he hissed before thrusting Regina toward the other trolls. "Take her!"_

_As the trolls moved to grab the thief, Emma made a break from them and grabbed her sword from the stony ground. She threw herself into the fight, distracting the trolls, which gave Regina an opportunity to get away._

"_Go on!" the princess commanded the brunette. "I'm right behind you!"_

_Regina nodded and turned to flee when she spotted her fairy-dust necklace on the ground. She dropped quickly to grab it before darting carefully over the rickety boards connected one part of the broken bridge to the other and into the woods._

_She grinned triumphantly as she ran, and assuming that the princess was only just behind her, she called out over her shoulder. "Follow me! They don't know the forest like I do."_

_When she received no answer, though, she turned quickly to see that she was alone. The blonde was not behind her. Emma had not been able to escape. _

_Panic spilled through Regina's chest as she sprinted back toward the troll bridge, a panic she did not quite understand because she knew nothing truly of this princess. She had no ties to the woman, no loyalties; yet she could not deny in her heart that she cared._

_Regina's eyes widened with her fear as she saw Emma on her knees, her neck exposed, and the leader of the trolls poised to strike. _

"_Royal blood is the sweetest of all," the troll growled. Just as the creature was about to bring the curved blade of the sword down in one sweeping motion, though, he was enveloped in a colorful cloud smoke. Seconds later, the troll was gone, and in his place was only a small beetle crawling about the bridge._

_The trolls, startled, all turned toward the source of the magic. Emma, also confounded, looked up as well, only to see that the woman she had just sent to freedom had come back for her._

_Regina shook the vial of fairy dust from her necklace into her hand again and threw it at the nearest troll. This creature, too, transformed into a mere beetle, a form easily squashed. The brunette did this one by one until the trolls each were unworthy foes and the vial she had protected for so long lay empty in her hand._

_Emma stood, slowly and breathlessly, and stared into the eyes of the woman before her. "You…you saved me," she reverently whispered._

_Regina smiled softly at her and nodded, reiterating the blonde's words from earlier that day. "It was the honorable thing to do."_

"_What about your special someone?" Emma asked, pointing to the now empty vial._

_Regina let out a heavy sigh and shrugged her shoulders. "I'll think of something else."_

_They took an unconscious step toward one another, and Emma swallowed thickly as her heart fluttered in her chest and she choked out quiet words. "Thank you."_

_A long, beautifully tense moment of silence grew between them as they stood but a breath away from one another atop the crumbling remains of the troll bridge._

"_Anyway," Regina blurted after several long moments, waving her hand to dismiss Emma's awe. "How could I let my White Knight die?" _

_They both chuckled softly at that. "I told you," the princess said with a smile, "I have a name. It's Emma."_

_Regina tilted her head just slightly as she let the woman's name roll around inside her mind and inside her heart, and in a near whisper, she said, "It's nice to meet you, Emma."_

_That silence began to grow again as they merely stood together and absorbed the moment. Regina, again, was the one to break the tension. She took a deep breath, motioned to the bridge, and said, "We should go. There may be more of them coming."_

* * *

"Where is he?" Mary Margaret asked as she followed Emma and Henry over the rocks and down toward the running creek. The sign nearby squeaked as it shifted in the slight breeze, it's face having been marred by a spray-painted 'R' so that it now read "Troll Bridge" where it once had read "Toll Bridge."

"Can you see him?" the elder woman asked as she grabbed onto her daughter's arm to steady herself on the rocks.

"Trail dies at the water line," Henry called back.

They surveyed the area, squinting to see through the growing darkness, and that's when Mary Margaret spotted him. He lay half in the creek and half out of it, unconscious and bleeding.

"Oh my god!" Mary Margaret exclaimed, taking off through the creek, her running steps splashing about. "Oh my god. Oh my god."

Emma grabbed her radio from her belt and spoke quickly into it. "I need an ambulance at the old toll bridge as soon as possible," she ordered before taking off to help her mother and Henry retrieve John Doe from the creek.

"Hang on," Mary Margaret said as Henry slipped his arms under the man's head and shoulders. "Hang on, hang on, I got his feet."

"Here, Mom," Emma said quickly, gently pushing her mother out of the way. "Let me, okay?"

Mary Margaret stepped aside and let Henry and Emma lift the man from the creek and carry him up to the bank.

"Slow down. Slow down," the elder woman said in a bit of a panic as the two tripped a few times over the rocks. Once they laid the man down on the bank, Mary Margaret instantly dropped to her knees and bent over to peer down at his face. She checked for breathing and tried to find a pulse, but she couldn't tell if there was one or not.

"No!" she exclaimed. "No, no, no, no, no! I _found_ you." She dropped her voice to a whisper as she patted his cheeks and said, "It's gonna be okay."

Emma watched her mother, a little confused by the woman's seeming degree of attachment to this stranger. She didn't understand why her mother was so terribly upset, but then she was used to Mary Margaret being a softie, so she wasn't terribly surprised. Regardless, it hurt her to see the woman this way—so distraught; pounding on this man's chest in an attempt to animate his heart.

Henry, on the other hand, was nearly in tears at this point. His throat was tight and his heart clenched painfully in his chest. _Grandpa, don't you DARE die, _he chanted in his mind over and over. He couldn't believe this was happening, that his idea had actually worked and his grandmother had been able to wake the man with only her voice and their stories, but it had. It had worked, and their true love could very well be a key point in helping him break the curse.

"Come back to us," Mary Margaret whispered brokenly as she blew air into the man's mouth, but then she merely pressed her lips to his in a gentle kiss. "Come back to me."

_Oh god, _Henry thought. This was too much. His heart felt like it was going to explode in his chest, and not in a good way. Is this what he had waited for? Is this what twenty-one years without his family had bought him?

A first-class ticket to more heartache? A front-row view of his family's suffering? It just wasn't…it wasn't right. None of this was right.

But then…

A spluttering cough ripped through John Doe's lips as he sucked in a wet breath and spat out the creek water he had ingested. His bright blue eyes, skin crinkled around the edges, locked onto the green ones above him and he smiled at the woman. "You saved me," he whispered.

Henry stared wide-eyed at the scene. His heart was racing as he looked up at his mother, his lips parted and his eyes ripe with his shock. "She did it," he said breathlessly. "She did it. She woke him up."

Emma had much the same expression on her face, though her brows were still furrowed with her confused. "Yeah, man," she replied, completely dumbfounded and weirded out by this entire experience. "She did."

John Doe and Mary Margaret, though, were in their own little world as they stared into one another's eyes. He smiled softly at her as he said, "Thank you."

Mary Margaret looked down at him, tears brimming along her eyelids as she stroked his cheek and whispered, "Who are you?"

The man became slightly distressed as panic shot through his eyes. "I…I don't know," he whispered, utterly confused and little scared.

"Hey, that's okay," Mary Margaret reassured him. "You're gonna be okay."

* * *

The ambulance rushed John Doe back to the hospital so that Dr. Whale could check the man's vitals and stability. Having been in a coma for multiple years, it was likely the man could relapse into one at any time, and that was merely one of the many possible tragedies that could occur.

"Coming through," Whale shouted to the small group of people gathered in the hospital—Emma, Henry, and Mary Margaret. They parted quickly so that the doctor could get through with the man on the gurney and wheel him back to his former room, where he then began with a string of tests.

It was only a few moments later when a young blonde woman, likely no older than Henry or Emma, came rushing into the room. She shot past the Sheriff, Henry, and Mary Margaret and sped right into the room amidst the buzz of the patient's medical team.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, her face ripe with her worry. "Daddy, is that you?"

Whale's head shot up at the intruding woman's words. "Excuse me ma'am," he said quickly, but the woman paid him no mind. She pushed to get nearer the bed. "Ma'am, you can't be in here." Again, she didn't listen; thus, the doctor darted around the bed and grabbed the woman gently by the shoulders. He nudged her back to a corner of the room as he said, "Ma'am, please, you can't be in here now. Wait over here for a second."

The small group watching outside the sliding glass doors were completely taken aback by the scene. Henry couldn't shake the feeling that he recognized that woman, though he couldn't place her. His mind kept flashing back to the storybook, but he was coming up blank.

"Who is that?" Mary Margaret asked, eyeing the woman.

Heels clicked softly against the tiled floor, catching their attention. They turned to see Cora standing just behind them with a very annoyed-looking Mayor at her shoulder. She smirked without looking at Henry, Mary Margaret, or Emma.

"His daughter."

* * *

_Emma and Regina made their way slowly along the path toward the edge of the forest where they could see a large palace in the distance, a palace that Regina assumed to be Emma's home. They stopped a few paces back from the edge of the forest and turned to face one another, their eyes locking almost instantly._

_They stood silently for a few moments, both of them just awkwardly shuffling their feet or shifting their weight from foot to foot. It was clear that neither wanted to be the first to say goodbye._

"_So…you probably want this," Emma said, holding out the stack of gold coins that Regina had used to bait the trolls._

"_Right, the gold," Regina said quickly, reaching for the coins. "Thank you. And um, you can't get married without this." She pulled out the small pouch of jewels she had recovered from the trolls and held it out to the blonde._

_Emma smiled as she took the pouch. She dug through it and pulled out the ring that had been her mother's, the ring her mother had given her to pass along to her own bride. It was the first ring Emma's father had given to her mother, an engagement ring that they both chose to pass down to her. It was a simple, yet beautiful silver ring with a bright green gem centered atop it. She held it to the small strips of light pouring through the treetops. _

"_I know," she chuckled as she glanced to Regina who was also looking at the ring as it shone in the light, "not your style."_

"_Well there's only one way to find out!" Regina exclaimed before lunging forward and yanking the ring from the princess's hand. She slid it quickly onto the third finger of her left hand. It was a perfect fit._

_The brunette stared at the ring for a long moment, a feeling she couldn't quite place stirring deep within her. Her heart slithered up into her throat and stuck there painfully, and she suddenly found she could no longer stand to see the ring on her finger._

"_Yeah, not me at all," she choked out as she pulled off the ring and passed it back to the blonde princess. "I'm sure your fiancée will love it."_

"_Yeah," Emma whispered as she took the ring. "If you need more, you can have the rest," she told the brunette, holding out her pouch of jewels. "The ring is all I require."_

"_Oh no, no," Regina denied quickly, shaking her head back and forth. "I'm good. Thanks. We both got what we wanted."_

_Emma nodded firmly, and their eyes locked again. "Well, wherever you're going," she said quietly, "be careful." Then before she could stop herself, she added, "If you need anything…"_

"_You'll find me?" Regina asked, smirking at the blonde._

_Emma chuckled softly as she ran a hand through her long golden locks. "As my parents would say, 'Always.'"_

"_You know, I almost believe that."_

_The air thickened between them as they took another unconscious step toward one another, but then Emma quickly realized the closing distance between them and took a step back. She cleared her throat roughly and said, "Well, goodbye Regina."_

"_Goodbye White Knight," Regina responded with a playful little curtsy._

"_I told you," the princess laughed out as they began walking backwards in place, moving away from one another but never turning their gazes, "it's Emma."_

"_Nah. I still like Knight better," Regina called back to her before they both turned and made their way down the path in opposite directions, neither realizing that the other had taken one last opportunity to glance over her shoulder before disappearing around the bend._

* * *

"His name is David Nolan," Cora said matter-of-factly, "and that's his daughter, Katherine, and the joy on her face…well, it's put me in quite the forgiving mood."

As Cora was going on, Henry caught a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned just slightly and noticed his mothers stepping off to the side. Regina had grabbed Emma's elbow and pulled her just slightly away from the others. Henry took a subtle step toward them so he could better hear the conversation.

"We'll talk about your insubordination later," Regina hissed at the blonde. "You do know what insubordination means, don't you Sheriff, since you seem to have forgotten everything else today?"

Emma rolled her eyes then as the Mayor said, "It means you'll be written up for this, for pulling some stranger into town business, _police _business."

"Oh please," Emma snapped in a whisper. "The guy is a bounty hunter. It's what he does. It's not like I broke the law by using his skills. Write me up if you want, Madam Mayor, but _do _remember that it was _Henry _that found this guy; not me and certainly not _you._ Oh and let's not pretend like you really even care, Regina. You're only here because _Mommy _told you to be."

Henry sighed and gently shook his head back and forth as Emma then yanked her arm out of Regina's hold and stepped back over to his side. How was he going to fix this…them? Their relationship in this world seemed so volatile.

The sliding glass doors of David's isolated room opened then, catching everyone's attention. The young blonde woman, Katherine, exited the room and walked over to both Mary Margaret and Henry.

"Thank you," she said sweetly. "Thank you for finding my father."

"Um, I don't…I don't understand," Mary Margaret replied. "You didn't know that he was here in a coma?"

Henry struggled to keep his mouth shut in that moment. He knew that Katherine was not the man's daughter, because the only daughter that man had was Henry's own mother, Emma. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the blonde in question staring at Katherine, and Henry couldn't help but notice the troubled, conflicted look in his mother's eyes.

It broke his heart, because in this world, Emma didn't know who her father was. She didn't know that he was a good and kind man, a man who would do anything for her and for their family. The only knowledge she had of any father in this world was of a man who had abandoned her before she had ever even begun to grow.

"My father and I were not getting along," Katherine began. "You see, my mother died when I was very young, and he never really recovered. He became cold and unfeeling, and some of that was my fault. I know that now. I was so young. I didn't understand. I was difficult and unsupportive, and as I got older and he got worse, we just got to a point where we couldn't be around each other anymore. We fought constantly, and then one day a few years ago when he complained about living with me, I told him that if he didn't like things then he could leave, and…he did, and I didn't stop him. I've regretted it ever since."

"You didn't go look for him?" Henry asked.

"I assumed he'd left town all this time," Katherine answered, ducking her head a bit. "He's a strong man despite his age, and he'd always loved to travel when he was young, or so he always told me. Now I know why I never heard from him. Now I get to do what I've wanted to do forever, which is to say that I'm sorry. Now we get a second chance to be a family again, to make things right."

Mary Margaret's eyes were brimming with tears as she nodded and offered the woman a small smile. "That's wonderful," she choked out as Henry slipped an arm around her shoulders.

Emma appeared on her other side then and patted her back, and Henry couldn't help but noticed that his mother's emerald eyes were also misty.

"It's something of a miracle," a voice announced, breaking up the moment. Dr. Whale stepped over to the group as he glanced down at the chart in his hands.

"He's okay?" Katherine asked him.

"Physically, he's on the mend," Whale told him. "His memory is another issue. It may take time to recover, if at all."

"What brought him back?" Henry asked.

"That's the thing," Whale said with a shrug of his shoulders, "no explanation. Something just clicked in him."

"He just got up and decided to go for a stroll?" Emma deadpanned.

"He woke, and he was delirious, and his first instinct was to go find something I guess," Whale told her with another shrug.

Henry rolled his eyes as he muttered under his breath. "Some_one_."

"Can I see him?" Katherine asked the doctor.

"Yeah," Whale said quickly, motioning toward the room. "Of course."

Once the small group began to disperse, Cora shot a glare at each of them before turning toward her daughter. "Regina, let's go."

Regina huffed out a breath, her chocolate locks flying away from her face with the puff of air, as she turned on her heels and followed her mother. Emma watched them go, her eyes narrowed as she tracked the younger brunette's steps. She waited only a moment before following after.

As Emma ran off down the hall in pursuit of Regina, Henry patted Mary Margaret's arm affectionately and quietly asked, "Is it wrong of me to think that _you're_ the one he was looking for?"

Mary Margaret chuckled wetly as she leaned into Henry's embrace and laid her head against his shoulder. She didn't know why she trusted the young man so much, but she unquestionably did. In the strangest way, he felt like something akin to family even after only a few short days. "He was going to the troll bridge," she said quietly, "because it's the last thing I read to him."

"The troll bridge?" Henry asked quietly, confused. He thought his grandmother had been reading his grandfather their own story, the story of Snow White and her Prince. "But that's not part of Snow White and Prince Charming's story?"

"No," Mary Margaret said with a sigh, "but it _is _part of their daughter's."

* * *

"Madam Mayor!" Emma called out as she chased after Regina and Cora.

Cora shot Regina a warning look that she had no intentions of stopping to speak with the Sheriff, but Regina stopped anyway. She rolled her eyes and quietly said, "Just let me deal with her."

Cora was about to protest, not wanting her daughter anywhere near the Sheriff. She liked to keep them apart as often as possible despite designing the curse to ensure that the two women would dislike one another. The disdain that the curse had painted between them worked exceedingly well, but with the Savior in town, Cora was highly on edge, especially where her daughter and the Sheriff were concerned.

"Miss Swan," Regina began, turning and walking several paces back to meet the Sheriff halfway, "I let you off the hook back there, so don't press it."

"Let me off the hook?" Emma asked. "You said you were going to write me up. How is that letting me off the hook?"

"What do you want, Sheriff?" Regina huffed out, ignoring her.

Emma glanced over Regina's shoulder to the woman's lingering mother before lowering her voice and saying, "I'm sorry, but Ms. Nolan? Kind of feels like her story could be a load of crap."

Steps echoed behind the blonde then and both women turned to see Henry quickly approaching. He stepped up to Emma's side and nodded to her. He had gone in search of his mother once he'd noticed that she had disappeared, curious as to where she had gone, and when he'd seen her speaking with his other mother, Henry hadn't wanted to miss anything.

His arrival had certainly garnered Cora's attention. She quickly stepped up to the group herself, standing just behind her daughter and refusing to miss a moment of whatever was about to take place.

Regina merely offered Henry a quick glance, not wanting to even ponder how she felt about his presence, before turning back to the blonde. She arched an eyebrow at the Sheriff and asked, "Well?"

"I'm just saying," Emma started again, "all this time there's a John Doe lying around in a coma and nobody puts it in the news, nobody goes looking? Nobody ever even filed a report with _me_. Something's not right here."

"What else would make sense to you?" the Mayor drawled.

"Yes," Cora interjected. "Why would Ms. Nolan lie?" She then cut her eyes to Henry and with a smirk asked, "Do you think I cast a spell on her?"

Henry was intrigued by that comment, though he couldn't tell if it was merely because the woman was a smartass who liked to toy with the people of the town in this way since she of course knew who she was while the rest knew nothing beyond their cursed identities; or, if it was because she was making a direct implication that she knew who _he_ was.

Henry wasn't one to make assumptions, so he steered clear of doing so; but if this woman wanted to play ball, he'd play.

"Well, _I_ think it's rather strange," Henry cut in, joining the conversation, "that you've been his emergency contact all these years and you only found her now."

"Well this town is bigger than you know," Cora argued. "It's entirely possible to get lost here. It's entirely possible for bad things to happen."

"Oh, and just when it's convenient, you manage to solve the mystery?"

"Thanks to you," Cora told him with a wicked smirk.

Henry's brows furrowed at that, his lips pursing as he stalled and scratched at his goatee. Regina, seeing the confused look on his face, explained what her mother meant. "That tape you found was apparently a stroke of genius, so I had the hospital security go back and look at past tapes. It turns out that Mr. Doe's been talking in his sleep, calling out for a Katherine. After that, it wasn't hard to put the pieces together."

"And here I thought you two and Mary Margaret would be pleased," Cora said before anyone could respond. "The man now has his family. He has _everything _he needs. So bask in the moment, dears. Were it not for you two, they would likely have lived their lives completely alone." Cora then leveled Henry with a glare as she added, "That's why I'm willing to forgive your incessant rudeness…_this _time."

"Because a man and his daughter have been reunited?" Henry asked, disbelievingly.

"Because all of this has reminded of something that's so very important," Cora answered, reaching out to place her hand, almost possessively, on Regina's shoulder. "How grateful I am to have Regina, to have my daughter, my family. Because not having someone—well, that's the worst curse imaginable."

* * *

Emma lay on the couch in her apartment later that evening, staring up at the ceiling. She absentmindedly played with a ring on her middle finger, a silver ring with a bright green gem. The events of the day were spilling through her mind, niggling at her brain in a way that she couldn't quite understand but couldn't shake either.

The sound of a knock on her door startled her from her thoughts. She popped off the couch and walked over to the door. She pulled it open to reveal an awkward and nervously shuffling Henry. He scratched at his goatee and shrugged his shoulders as Emma said, "Henry?"

"Sorry to bother you so late," he told her, and he _was_ sorry. He was sorry for a lot of things. He was sorry for bothering her yes, but it was more than that.

He was sorry for the way she had suffered under this curse for so many years. He was sorry for the loss of her love, for the disdain that now existed between her and his other mother. He was sorry for earlier that day, for her having to hear that her father supposedly had another daughter, even though it was all a fabrication of the curse and Emma didn't actually know that the man was her father. It didn't make Henry any less sorry.

But mostly, he was sorry for how alone she had been for so long…just like him. And that was why he stood at her door now. He took a deep breath and before he could change his mind and leave, he quietly asked, "Is that spare room still available?"

Emma smiled softly at him and nodded. She moved to open the door a little wider, and Henry just shrugged his shoulders again as he stepped inside his new home.


End file.
